The Strand
In November 2008 we staged The Strand, a play about the dynamics of a community struggling with gentrification & identity.
IMAGINING THE MARKET AS A CHARACTER
The skeleton of the Market is a ’70s space frame. Wind passes through the open passageways and its tent-like ceiling breathes. With the many minds that pass through each day it can be perceived to have a kind of awareness, of existing as a character perhaps because of the attributes it is imbued with by its residents, but it has withered and aged, and if it were a self-determining creature it could have clearly advised its key stakeholders as to its destiny.
In an attempt to keep it simple, I like to say that The Strand is a snapshot of the Market as told through a love story. But Market culture is anything but simple: this story was triangulated between a woman named Leanne, who represents management, the main character Cal, representing local community and a young fruitier named Demi, who represents the traders’ future. Each character is a dominant aspect of Market culture. Cal is a cleaner, a man made invisible by circumstance. The Market are where he feels safe and unchallenged. Leanne, an architectural designer, discovers something grounded and soulful within him, which she’d misplaced long ago. Throughout the play we witness Cal become aware of himself by rediscovering value through Leanne’s caring.
In creating a piece of theatre with source material gathered from the Preston Market The Strand set out to create a parallel narrative to the one playing out in late 2008 — a narrative of redevelopment and uncertainty. The characters were essentially archetypes of people we often meet—The Patriarch, the Lost Soul who finds solace here, the Son of Father & Son, the Woman Who Brings Change, the Ghost who is both invisible and omnipresent in the Markets. All these characters share a vital sense of belonging and connection to the life of the Market. They revolve around each other, holding clues to the other’s daily narratives. For them, it is simply more than a place to buy broccoli at $2 a head, it is their social lifeline to the world, and transactions involving relationships and experience play out in pallet-loads every moment.
