Five years ago, I staged a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Barnes Park. A group of friends, working together to put on a show, rehearsing on evenings around work commitments, making costumes, finding props, all for free (or as good as). This was an amazing group of people passionate about putting on a play. The only thing that amazed me more than those people was the people that turned up to watch, maybe sixty in total over the three nights. Sixty people who ventured out into the park to watch people they didn’t know put on a play.
That support from the residents of Sunderland on stage, and in the audience, was a game changer for me and the start of something I hold dear. Fast forward five years and its now three different plays in three different parks and audiences of 300+ a night, paid actors, and a theatre company in familiar orange hoodies.
This city helped me build my livelihood on its support, it’s willingness to chip in and lend a hand, its acceptance of someone doing something differently. Believe me when I say that is not a common thing. I’m not from here, I’ve lived all over and this city is pretty unique in that respect. Where ever you look, you’ll find someone who is passionate about something. There are people who save buildings; others who keep heritage and civic pride alive; those who shout the lads on at the stadium; those that keep the beaches clean and those that put plays on in the parks. That passion should be celebrated – the people too, and we’ve got what we need to do it.
City of Culture 2021 is a game changer for the city, a chance to celebrate the people and the place, its past and its future. We’ve got so much to shout about and it the one thing we struggle to do. It’s easy to complain, to focus on the negative, but if people had done that rather than venture in to a park then I wouldn’t have gotten this far. For that reason above all, I am passionate about supporting this bid, to give back what this city gave to me.
A successful bid would allow a future full of potential for exploration, celebration and creativity for everyone, no matter how you see culture or what your age, regardless of your background or your experience. A city full of exciting things, happenings and shared experiences. All of which I hope will change lives, and the city, for the better.
This City deserves to be on the map, based purely on the heart of the people; when you add its heritage, its history and its potential, it becomes a no-brainer.
I’m not from here, but I’m proud to call it home.
— Corinne Kilvington, theatre director, producer & performer
