Permission, to play, to look, to listen

Our second weekend of conversations in Huddersfield, were wonderfully wide ranging. People we met in the first weekend returned to talk more about things that had occurred to them since, about the kinds of things that were in the newspapers eighty years ago and the kind of things that are in them now. They talked about where this information comes from, how it comes to be a headline and how they do or don’t find information elsewhere in a digital age.

We heard about nearness, about neighbours and knowing. About times when people knew everyone on their street and how today, they don’t. How people played out from light to dark and how there wasn’t so much fear. We heard how they are connected, by computer, to people all over the world that they may never meet in person. Never shake their hand or hug but feel incredibly close to.

In conversations after the shows, some people who work in education talked about shifts they’ve observed over time, in the children they teach and in what they can teach. We talked about who has permission to play, children and adults, who has time to play and how we play, in person or in the ether.  And this led on to more talk about connection, about touch and about looking, about different histories of looking at different moments in time, in different places, faiths and cultures, in neighbourhoods, communities, in papers, on stage, online and in person.

We talked for hours and noted that sometimes it was hard, sometimes it was uncomfortable, to talk and to listen about what we don’t, often, together.  That these things need more space, more time, more attention.

The Talking Place returns to Lawrence Batley Theatre on Thursday 23 June from 6pm to continue the conversation.  If you’d like to join us or have a thought to share please drop us a line at thetalkingplace@feveredsleep.co.uk