Old St. residents Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence present an intimate glimpse into the thoughts, fears and fondest childhood memories of the tech belts older residents. Putting their words into the mouths of local young people.

An intergenerational verbatim drama project where local young performers channel the words of older people who live in The Old Street area.

This neighbourhood is experiencing dramatic changes. As more people and buildings arrive, links between ‘new’ and ‘old’ can be difficult. This project provided an important opportunity to build mutually respectful relationships by commemorating the history of the area from the perspective of those who have been here for many years and making this available to those who’ve been here for less time.

The show was created for Shoredtich Town Hall and Kunstraum gallery on Roscoe St. EC1Y and in partnership with The Quaker Court estate. It was supported and funded by Shoreditch Town Hall, The Derwent community fund, The George Robbins Trust and Wates construction. The project culminated in a verbatim theatre show using the in the ear method of delivery where the performers listen to interviews through headphones in performance and repeat back exactly what they hearing, including pauses and imperfections. The interviews are of older people living in the Old Street area talking about the area and their thoughts, opinions and stories of it’s past, present and future. Lisa and Rachael worked with local young performers over a two month period to teach them the headphone verbatim performance method as well as other acting skills, to create the piece.