Journeymen Theatre –  2010-2023: Our legacy project, by Lynn and David Morris

Authors: Lynn and David Morris. Review by Mike Casey

This book contains the nine plays written and performed by Lynn and Dave Morris as Journeymen Theatre, between 2010 and 2023. Both players are members of Stourbridge Meeting. The plays were commissioned by a number of Quaker bodies, and have been performed throughout the UK.

The company no longer tours its work, but this book is offered as a ‘legacy project’, to allow the plays an afterlife beyond performance.

Telling stories which connect us with other people is a vital part of a shared theatre experience. Each play focuses on an issue that will be of concern to Quakers and others. These range from refugees, to prisons, ‘military creep’ in schools, state-sanctioned torture, domestic abuse, and environmental concerns.

In the introduction, Lynn notes that the seeds of the project were sown on a visit to Palestine. The need to confront injustice in all its forms has driven the work. Readers may be confronted themselves, with stories beyond their lived experience, such as the scenarios played out in Feeding the Darkness, an uncomfortable watch that openly shines a light on state-sanctioned torture.

Most of the plays can be performed by two actors, even when there are more than two characters. Two are one-woman plays, both powerful evocations of Quaker women: Lover of Souls celebrates Elizabeth Hooton of the Valiant Sixty, while Red Flag over Bermondsey is about Ada Salter, the pacifist who became the first female mayor in London.

In the afterword, Lynn discusses the players’ personal journeys in developing the plays. They have faced the challenges of performing in Meetings houses, dedicated performance spaces, schools, conference centres, and, significantly, in prisons; often, audiences are unused to the issue-based performance style. If you have seen Journeymen Theatre performances, some of the accounts of different audience responses will be familiar. Lynn recounts these with humour and an honest acceptance. 

The work of Journeymen Theatre has been recognised as Quaker ministry. Unashamedly radical, attached to Quaker values, the company has been determined in this book to share the results of its deep research, and reflections on the issues the players have dramatised. The plays are a tribute to those brave enough to live adventurously and commit to improving the lives of others.

The proceeds of each book sale (£25) will go to a charity chosen by Journeymen Theatre. Contact Lynn Morris directly at lynnmorris32@yahoo.co.uk.

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