World premiere of Constructed to play at Birmingham Repertory Theatre this December
Photo credit: Kris Askey
It has been announced that Birmingham Repertory Theatre will present the world premiere of Constructed, a new play by CJ Lloyd Webley and Lightpost Theatre Company, in The DOOR from 3-5 December.
This new commission joins the sold-out premieres from Birmingham Royal Ballet (22-24 October) and Rosie Kay (21 November) in a season of new works at The REP this year.
Constructed tells the story of a group of labourers working on a failing construction site as they seek to better themselves but hierarchy and social circumstance forces them to stick to the job at hand. When a chance for promotion arises, fragmented relationships born out of frustration threaten to break apart the group’s brotherhood of co-workers.
The play explores the culture of working-class black men in Britain, digging a little bit deeper behind the workplace banter of a construction site and looking at the challenges that face working class manual workers both on site and at home.
Writer, CJ Lloyd Webley, said: “My inspiration for Constructed first came when looking through some of history’s most iconic structures; we are all aware of their existence but who were the labourers behind these great landmarks? What is their story and how does this apply in the modern context? We almost never hear of, or celebrate, the skilled trades people who build our megastructures further then the architect who designed them.
“In the middle of writing the play, George Floyd was murdered, and the Black Lives Matter movement began. I started to think where do we go from here and how can this inform some of the narrative in Constructed – exploring the possible and seemingly impossible for working class black men in modern Britain.”
Lighthouse Theatre Company began as a part of Shifting the Dial, a programme that aims to improve the mental well-being of young men of African, Caribbean or mixed African and Caribbean heritage. This partnership is a unique collaboration including the REP, First Class Legacy, Centre for Mental Health and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
To book tickets, please click here.
