Rehearsals in full swing for National Theatre collaboration that celebrates Sunderland

Sunderland Culture and Sunderland Empire has teamed up with the esteemed National Theatre for the show called Public Record, which will be staged at The Fire Station this April.

Public Record will feature more than 100 community performers alongside professional musicians and dancers and will see the Fire Station transformed into a recording studio for the show to create a new album; a portrait of the city through its people.

Celebrating the city, the show gives community members the chance to make a record of who they are, what they’re about, where they’ve come from and where they want to go.

Each track will reflect an aspect of life in Sunderland, or its proud heritage.

There will be music and dancing, karaoke and DJs and a house band. Sunderland-born Ross Millard (of The Futureheads) has written original music for the show.

Public Record is part of the National Theatre’s Public Acts programme, a nationwide initiative creating extraordinary acts of theatre and community.

Last year the programme produced five episodes of The Odyssey – one at The Fire Station – which culminated in an epic finale production which brought performers from five locations together on the National Theatre’s Olivier stage in August 2023.

Two of those performers were Sunderland-based Colin Greasley and Cheryl Francis.

Originally from Brighton, Cheryl moved to Wearside in 2019, and is a librarian at the University of Sunderland’s Medical School.

She hadn’t performed on stage until her involvement in The Odyssey - but she’s back to tread the boards in Public Record.

Cheryl said: “We created a WhatsApp last year and many of us have kept in touch, so it was lovely to hear TheNational Theatre were going to be working in Sunderland again – with the same production team.

“I signed up very quickly and have thoroughly enjoyed working with them again. For The Odyssey production in Sunderland I was a shipmate and sailor, and then when we performed the final fifth episode at The National Theatre I was given two other roles.

“It was such an inspiring experience, and I’m enjoying being part of Public Record just as much.”

Like Cheryl, Colin isn’t originally from Sunderland – he moved to the city in 2021 and found being involved in The Odyssey introduced him to a new friendship group.

He said: “The Odyssey was an incredible experience, one that I’ll never forget. It quite literally transformed me – I came to Sunderland by myself, but through the show made plenty of new friends.

“Although we’ve kept in touch over WhatsApp, it’s been great to catch-up in person and working on another show has been amazing.

“The Alumni team is so supportive and friendly, but so are the team from The National Theatre and it’s been lovely to catch-up with them too. I was so proud of what we produced last year and I know Public Record will be just as amazing.”

Four community groups, including The Odyssey Alumni Group, have been taking part in weekly creative workshops with theatre-makers from Sunderland Culture and the Empire since the summer.

These workshops have been held at the Sunderland Empire and in community venues including Southpaw Dance Company’s studio in The Sheepfolds in Sunderland.

Other participating groups are Back on the Map, Connect Company and Sunderland Nigerian Families Group.

There will be four performances of Public Record at The Fire Station, from Friday, April 25 to Sunday, April 27, and tickets are now on sale from firestation.org.uk