British Future went to York this week to to join the cast of the play Bed in a passionate debate about British identity.
The debate, held on the set of Bed in the York Theatre Royal, saw York University lecturer Mike Savage, Charles Hutchinson of the York Press and the director of Bed Cecily Boys discuss Scotland, the British Empire and Yorkshire pride.
In Jim Cartwright’s play Bed, seven characters share a bed to dream and reflect on their past and the past of Britain. British Future accepted an invitation to hold a post-show debate from the play’s director Cecily Boys, who read our report Hopes and Fears, and felt it gave the play a new timely context.
She felt that Hopes and Fears chimed with Jim Cartwright’s vision of discussing mood and national identity, but inspired her to stage this version in a 2012 context.
Cecily Boys said: “By recasting the character of Sermon Head as an angry young man, Old Bomb Theatre seeks to re-awaken this lyrical and dreamlike piece and ask urgent questions about what we see as ‘Britishness’ in the light of the 2011 riots.”
The passionate post-show debate ranged from questions about how people answered the question “where are you from?” to a discussion of celebrated British and English icons, and whether there was a need for an English anthem to play at sports matches.
Watch our video of the debate to hear some of what was said: