Description:The Corner Shop site-specific promenade theatre performance was based on new research conducted with Black Country shopkeepers, their families and customers undertaken by community members. In autumn 2008, an empty shop in West Bromwich was transformed into many spaces: some depicting real shops as well as the living spaces above or behind shops, and others were more fantastical. The audience moved through the rooms meeting characters and learning all about Black Country shops through time.
In summer 2008, Year 7 pupils from two Sandwell schools engaged in their own parallel education project. They visited shops in their local community and invited shopkeepers to their school for interviews. The pupils then worked with a designer, sound artist and drama specialist to create their own site-specific promenade performance in school based on their research.
In autumn 2009, with support from Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service and the Mander Shopping Centre, The Corner Shop theatre performance was restaged in an empty retail unit – formerly Sports World – in Wolverhampton’s Mander Shopping Centre. A parallel education project with West Park Primary School in Wolverhampton took place, supported by The Barry Jackson Trust.
Image: Shop Closure – The Corner Shop theatre production 2008 (West Bromwich).