May 8th, 2023, 9.00 in I-201 aud., playwright and author James Kenworth will present an open lecture: "Public Spaces, Public Words: Pro-Localist Theatre in Newham, East London, with Special Emphasis on Elizabeth Frey: Angel of the Prisons".
Kenworth is author of the play, "Elizabeth Fry: Angel of the Prisons," about prison reformer and philanthropist Fry (1780-1845) that was recently staged in London.
Aside from being a playwright, Kenworth is a doctor senior Lecturer at Middlesex University specialising in media narrative and storytelling.
During the week, he will be visiting MRU as a guest Lecturer.
His debut play was Gob, in 1999. Its revival at Edinburgh Fringe Festival earned the distinction of two five-star reviews from Three Weeks and The List, and was included in the feature, "Editor's Highlights of the Fringe".
James was one of eight playwrights selected to take part in the inaugural Tamasha/Mulberry School Writers Attachment Scheme in 2011, created and taught by playwright and Tamasha Theatre Company co-Artistic Director and Playwright, Fin Kennedy.
In 2014, James received special permission from the George Orwell Estate to write a contemporary re-imagining of Animal Farm, retitled Revolution Farm, performed on an inner city farm in East London, which the Independent’s Paul Taylor described as a ‘terrifically powerful update…highly recommended” and British Theatre Guide wrote ”If Animal Farm is on the curriculum this term, what better way to introduce it?
His raising awareness play, Dementia’s Journey, won the 2015 University of Stirling International Dementia Award in the category: Dementia & the Arts.
In 2021, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy by Public Works for his thesis, Public Spaces, Public Words: PUBLIC SPACES, PUBLIC WORDS: Contextualising Pro-Localist, Site-Local, New Writing and its roots in a community’s history, culture and people, which explored his creative practice as a playwright and investigated the efficacy of the use of Pro-Localism in a specific urban environment and addressed the question: how can iconic literacy classics and historical drama/biography be rewritten and ‘localized’ to reflect a sense of a place, people and culture?
His most recent play, Elizabeth Fry: The Angel of Prisons, the fifth in the Newham Play series and performed at Canning Town Library in 2022, , garned impressive critical acclaim, with the Evening Standard writing, a “Hyper-local history play about penal reformer Elizabeth Fry has heart." The Spectator added, "The script blends present-day London vernacular with the dialect of the early 19th century. It’s easy to watch and it delivers heaps of information without any hint of lecture-hall formality."
James’s pioneering of a Pro-Localist methodology of theatre making in non-traditional spaces, featuring a hybrid of professional artists with local talent, was highlighted and championed in a review by London Theatre Reviews; “Kenworth’s production is an inspiration for theatre makers across London. The ‘Pro – localist’ ethos, combined with facilitating a local community space, could be the answer to countless fringe and off-west end theatres having to close their doors across London.”
His plays have been reviewed in The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, The Spectator, Evening Standard, British Theatre Guide, Eastern Eye, and Morning Star.
More info about Kenworth here.