Three Rivers & Post Workers Theatre are updating the radical tradition of ‘Living Newspapers’ to bring Bexley’s local news to life and create the latest edition of the Bexley Responder in December 2025.

Living newspaper is a historic form of political theatre that dramatized current events and social issues. Originating in revolutionary Russia in the 1920s, Blue Blouse theatre troupes presented the news of the day in a mix of satirical songs, animated posters, dances and pantomime. This popular format became widely used in the Workers’ Theatre movement (1920-30s), which worked towards a ‘theatre without a stage’, in which the audience could take part. “Bexley Responder: A Living Newspaper” will explore how these accessible and immediate forms of social critique can be updated and deployed today.

The project will focus on the development of a 21st century ‘Living Newspaper’ for Bexley, collectively written and performed with and for the local community. This participatory process of gathering, writing and performing the news begins with an open call for local stories to discover which issues matter most to the residents of Bexley. News can be sent in anonymously via a telephone hotline or emailed via Three Rivers. PWT will also be visiting community groups and appearing at the Thamesmead Festival (2nd August 2025) and Bexley’s Broadway shopping centre to collect stories.

Following the gathering of local news, PWT will be joined by experimental performers ‘Infinite Opera’ and will assemble a small team of local writers to help edit and shape theatrical scripts. Through a series of co-writing workshops participants will be supported in collectively reviewing and developing, sketches and characters, learning more about the episodic structure of historic living Newspapers, something that Sergei Eisenstein called a ‘Montage of Attractions; a collision of dramatic narrative forms activated through movement, sound, speech, lighting and projection.

During the autumn, public workshops with theatre maker James Frost, will invite the wider community to participate in costume design, prop making and stage scenery. These sessions will offer further opportunities to contribute to the stories and help develop the final theatrical scripts. The project will culminate in a mobile street performance at the Broadway Shopping Centre. Featuring diverse characters, issues and formats, the performances will bring together the collected positions and voices from around Bexley to provide a platform for awareness, debate and solidarity around shared stories and lived experiences.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/39576