The Annex

7 o’clock on Saturday May 19th 2007 saw an excited audience queuing up at Church House in Sawbridgeworth to watch the acclaimed “Dickie Show”. Only ten minutes into the show, however, disaster struck, and the building had to be evacuated, as a catastrophe of world-shaking proportions unfolded. The audience was led to the safety of the Memorial Hall, where a group of young people found themselves selected for a mysterious higher purpose. Cut off from the rest of the world they had to discover how to work together and decide whether to accept their situation or rebel against it.

Youth CREATE’s site-specific, multi-media promenade performance of “The Annex” was a ground-breaking piece of work, devised by the young cast and script writer Megan Ford, with tight direction by Abigail Graham and set design and multimedia creation by Paul Burgess. Youth CREATE members rose to the challenge with an outstanding performance. The show worked on many levels, with the audience unwittingly becoming part of the performance. The packed house was both confused and thrilled by this new style of work, but the final denouement left them in no doubt as to the message – “The world is falling apart, it’s just nobody ever notices because it happens in bits and pieces. But as individuals, we can make a difference!”