A mixture of captions (not, on the evening I attended, fully functional or always able to keep up with the cast’s delivery of the dialogue), spoken word, British Sign Language and Sign Supported English, plus songs, combined to deliver this story about a local community that seems to listen more to a pub landlady, Sanjana, or Sanj (Bharti Patel) to her customers, than anyone else. Having encouraged voters to spoil their ballot papers at the last General Election – because ‘they’ are all the same, nobody listens to the people on the ground who work hard and pay their taxes, and all the rest of it. Sanj is non-partisan, putting in caveats at a suggestion from Mary Parker (Gabriella Leon), the Labour Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for a ‘Community Hustings’, ensuring that people of all political persuasions were welcome.
Perhaps ‘hustings’ wasn’t quite the right word for what eventually transpired, unless one were to revert to the eighteenth-century definition of the term (namely, a ‘temporary platform for political speeches’). As you know, these days it’s a reference to campaigning for political office in the run-up to an election. Those giving speeches at the ‘hustings’ – inverted commas mine – delivered speeches they had crafted themselves. Different speeches are delivered at each performance: at the one I attended, there was one called ‘Harmonising Our Society’, and another calling for the trialling of ‘hives’, services that address the needs of people who have had repeated experiences of rough sleeping, enabling them to break the cycle of homelessness. The ‘participants’, as the show’s programme called them, were drawn from over 700 people the production company Dash Arts spoke to “across three years of workshops in schools, prisons, community centres, working men’s clubs and deaf organisations in Leeds, Prescot, Coventry, Sheffield and London and everywhere in between”. They have their reasons for not going anywhere in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
The production could have had more faith in the participants – I would have liked to have heard what they had to say without the distraction of piped-in music, which they had to speak over, even if microphones were duly provided. To me, it reminded me of Steve Bray, known for playing loud music to disrupt political speeches. There is a lot going on in the show, story-wise – Sanj wants to sell up and let someone else run the pub (no, not because of the Government and its employer’s National Insurance hike). It’s more to do with the death of her husband, John, without whom she has been running the pub by herself. Their daughter Anika (Chaya Gupta) left home for study and then for work. Now working as a teacher, she is back home for a two-week half-term. I don’t think I ever had one of those: presumably it’s a public school?
Jo (Lauren Moakes), who has her own backstory, is dismissive of Anika, as she wasn’t around to visit despite John’s ever-declining health. Signs of a relationship of sorts between Anika and Tom (Kit Esuruoso), Mary’s campaign manager, are further cause to ignite Jo’s anger, for reasons ultimately unknown and unexplained (why exactly can’t people sleep with whom they wish?). Then there’s Scott (Fergus O’Donnell), who feels politically aligned enough with Reform UK not only to be a member but to put himself forward as a councillor candidate whenever the next local elections are due. He, too, annoys the hell out of Jo.
Perhaps Tom has a point that most parliamentarians work very hard for their constituents. Mary’s point is more prescient, however – the perception is different from what may or may not be the reality. A lot of ideas are bandied about, and the play does well to portray the limitations of what a single backbench MP can do, and the somewhat unrealistic expectations put on them – which begs the question: why do they keep making promises they can’t keep? Ah yes: to win votes. Which brings the plot back to Sanj’s previous campaign for local voters to spoil their ballot papers because ‘nobody’ can be believed.
Speeches and monologues turned into musical numbers didn’t quite work for me, especially when nobody in the audience left humming any of the tunes. The stereotype of pub regulars who don’t really know when to stop drinking, shouting or swearing is leaned into: are these the only sort of proper working-class voices? It’s a worthy endeavour, particularly with its commitment to inclusion through the use of captions and British Sign Language – front and centre, not someone standing signing in a corner. It resonates with anyone who feels severely let down by their elected representatives. Even if all the dots don’t quite join together seamlessly.
Review by Chris Omaweng
“Everyone knows what this country’s going through. All of us could tell a story of harm we’ve suffered.”
A by-election has been called. The whole community spoiled their ballots last time. They felt unheard and wanted to show those in power they weren’t to be taken for granted. Now Labour candidate Mary is on the doorstep. She wants to do politics differently. She’s here to listen.
As Mary joins people gathered in the local pub, conversations start. Jokes are thrown in. Ideals clash. There’s singing on tables! Love blossoms. And something starts to shift…
This funny and heartwarming play is about what happens when ordinary voices take centre stage and those with influence start to listen.
Mary – Gabriella Leon
Sanjana – Bharti Patel
Anika – Chaya Gupta
Scott – Fergus O’Donnell
Jo – Lauren Moakes
Tom – Kit Esuruoso
Writer – Barney Norris
Created and Directed by Josephine Burton
Music – Jonathan Walton
Lyrics – Jonathan Walton and people across the country
Set and Costume – Good Teeth Design
Lighting Design – Ryan Joseph Stafford
Creative Captions – Ben Glover
Sound – Bella Kear
Movement – Josie Daxter
Associate Director – Scott Hurran
Casting – Helena Palmer
Dash Arts in association with Leeds Playhouse presents
OUR PUBLIC HOUSE
Marylebone Theatre
30 June to 4 July 2026
