New Perspectives to tour Model Village
National tour 18 October – 25 November
A subversive satire with a hint of surrealism, the new comedy from New Perspectives sees the miniature residents of a model village rebel against plans from a radical urban artist to update their charming 1930s landscape. With the village in decline and visitor numbers low, the model-makers hope an update will put the attraction back on the tourist map. But they are brought eye-to-eye at a grassroots level with the residents of the waist-high houses who want to return to the halcyon days, and they must learn to collaborate across the divide. Model Village is the story of a community hankering for an idyllic past, asking if it’s possible to restore it or whether to embrace a bold new future. In the end, the audience will vote to decide on what the outcome will be.
East Midland’s based New Perspectives are celebrating their 50th anniversary. With a strong rural core, they are starting their anniversary season by touring Model Village to arts venues and village halls. In addition, they have just released their second podcast series, Where I Belong, pairing artists from two UNESCO cities of literature, Nottingham and Baghdad.
Writer Anita Sullivan said, “I grew up in a rural community and first encountered theatre in the village hall. I’m delighted to be turning that full circle with Model Village. It’s written with heart and playfulness. What is a model village today? What do the little people want? I hope you’ll sing along, vote for the village you want to see.”
Director Angharard Jones said, “Model Village is unique, fantastical play that sees two worlds collide. It speaks to the idea of change, progress, tolerance, and rebellion asking us to examine where the power in communities’ lies and how different factions of society can co- exist as one. Anita has crafted a brilliant and thoughtful script that traverses across realities whilst remaining relatable and recognisable. Model Village is full of surprises, humour and quirk with a hint of the absurd and is a joyful challenge to direct. We are thrilled to be sharing this with audiences for the first time in their own community spaces and look forward to seeing what decisions the audiences will make for how we leave the play.”
Anita Sullivan is a stage and radio playwright, her 2022 BBC radio drama, End of Transmission, won the Tinnswood Award for writing, the BBC Audio Drama for Best Single Drama, and was a finalist for the Writer’s Guild Award. Other recent work includes Silos and Heart of Darkness for BBC Radio 4, and her stage plays range from The Owl Service in 1967 (Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal) Monumental (Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow) Midsummer York Mysteries (RSC) and Clearance (Traverse).
New Perspectives is an East Midlands based company with 50 years’ experience of touring high-quality productions to venues of all sizes across the UK, from mid-scale theatres to village halls. With a strong rural core, they create productions to fit spaces of any size in order to bring new work that is unexpected and thought-provoking to a wide range of audiences. In 2021, Angharad Jones was appointed as their Artistic Director/CEO; assistant director of the company’s award-winning production of The Fishermen. Within the last two years at New Perspectives, she has directed a script-in-hand reading of Lucy Kirkwood’s Maryland and touring productions The Great Almighty Gill (Edinburgh Festival & UK Tour 2022) and The Swearing Jar (rural/ Studio UK tour). New Perspectives recently toured We Need New Names, based on the Booker Prize-nominated novel.
