Our mission is to make theatre that matters to people: relevant, home-grown, original and accessible.

We draw on the richness of energy, talent and enthusiasm of local people to create our shows.

Theatre for, with and about the people of Norwich.

Our Vision, Mission and Values

We imagine a world in which people are endlessly creating and co-operating for the common good.

In reducing the need for money we find ourselves rich with resources, experience and good will to others.

Our mission is to make theatre that matters to people: relevant, home-grown, original and accessible.

We believe in the power of theatre to give us voice and make a positive difference in the world.

We believe everyone is capable of creating and enjoying great theatre and that the process of making it brings innumerable benefits: personal, social and political.

We believe in creating opportunity for ordinary people to collaborate, learn and be creative and that this gives richness and meaning to our lives.

We believe in equality and appreciation of the other.

We all have something to offer and something to gain.

We believe theatre should be free and everywhere.

We work hard and strive to be brilliant.

The Common Lot is a community interest company with a large membership. We are registered with Companies House as The Common Lot CIC. Company Number: 12481797. Our registered office, and the place where we are primarily based is The Phoenix Centre, 132a Mile Cross Road, Norwich, England, NR3 2LD.

Look us up. Come see us. We love talking…

Here is our latest annual report:

The Common Lot CIC Accounts March 2021 – February
2022

The Common Lot is a theatre collective making shows
for, with and about the people of Norwich. We are a Community
Interest Company (CIC) with a large membership (company no.
12481797)
Our Directors are:
Siobhan O’Connor, Duncan Joseph, Simon Floyd, Jacqui Mackay & Jeannette
Baxter. During the reporting period our directors also included Mags
Chalcraft (resigned July 2022), Eileen Mulvaney (resigned June 2022) & Nicola
Turner (resigned November 2021).
Our Vision, Mission & Values:
We imagine a world in which people are endlessly creating and co-operating for the
common good.
In reducing the need for money, we find ourselves rich with resources, experience and good
will to others.
Our mission is to make theatre that matters to people: relevant, home grown, original and
accessible.
We believe in the power of theatre to give people voice and make a positive difference in the
world.
We believe everyone is capable of creating and enjoying great theatre and that the process of
making it brings innumerable benefits: personal, social and political.
We believe in creating opportunities for people to collaborate, learn and be creative and that this
gives richness and meaning to our lives.
We believe in equality and appreciation of the other – we all have something to offer and
something to gain.
We believe theatre should be free and everywhere.
We work hard and strive to be brilliant.

We follow three principles in all that we do:

1. Everyone must benefit
2. All contributions are equally valued
3. We have what we need (and if we don’t, we can find it!)

We are proud of our following achievements in 2021 and early 2022:

I Mile Cross

The Common Lot continues to be based at The Phoenix Centre in Mile Cross, deepening our practice
as participatory theatre makers.
In the midst of a well-served city Mile Cross is in the top 2% of social deprivation nationally and 50%+
children receive free school meals. There is far less opportunity for cultural engagement and little
access to affordable, creative activities especially for families/older residents. Mile Cross has an
undeserved reputation and strong stigma associated with the area.
With the lifting of social restrictions we have been able to invest funds generously granted by
Norwich Consolidated Charities in developing our work over two years with the people of Mile Cross.
In making art together we support social connection and cohesion, skills sharing, confidence, an
improved sense of mental and physical wellbeing and local pride. Activities have included
establishing weekly meetings of the Common Lot Singers in Mile Cross. The Singers joined local
residents and The Salvation Army for carol singing and mulled apple juice around a Christmas tree on
the Estate. For the second year, we were delighted to work with the Phoenix Centre to stage socially
distanced community events at Christmas with Santa, craft sessions and present giving. Common Lot
volunteers cooked and delivered a Christmas Day meal to the most vulnerable, including elderly and
disabled residents.
In October 2021 sessions of the Common Lot Youth Theatre began with generous support from The
Chivers Trust, the Ragdoll Foundation and Persimmon Homes Community Champions funding.
Members of the Youth Theatre subsequently performed in ‘Songs of Hope & Protest’ in June 2022.
Planning began for a Welcome Feast, supported by the Allen Lane Foundation, to encourage
integration in the Mile Cross area between refugees/asylum seekers and economic migrants and the
local population. This will focus on the sharing of recipes and food from the various communities.
At almost 100 years old Mile Cross is also the country’s first purpose-built housing estate and a place
with a fascinating heritage, something we feel is worth celebrating. We are thrilled to have been
successful with a bid to the National Heritage Lottery Fund to find, collect and tell the stories of a
century of Mile Cross. This project will begin in the autumn of 2022 and culminate in a city wide play,
procession in Mile Cross and map of stories in 2023.
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In May 2021, we received support from Norwich City Council to coordinate the development of the
Mile Cross Projects and Events Group. This group met online to begin with and agreed on terms of
reference. It began with six committed local individuals from Mile Cross Library, the Phoenix Centre,
a local church and Norwich City Council. WIthin a few months, as lockdown restrictions lifted, it

became a regular lunch time meeting of between 12 and 20 local residents supporting the
organisation of local events such as The Galley Hill Dash road race, a trail called Connects and a
Christmas celebration with several local organisations contributing. The group continues to develop
its reach and impact.

The Common Plot is 4 adjacent allotments off Valpy Avenue on the Mile Cross estate, which has an
active membership of around 30 community and Common Lot participants and a steering committee
of 12. Varying numbers of participants work together each weekend on a plan to develop the site’s
infrastructure towards a full community launch in 2023. Over the last year they have cleared the site
of rubbish and brambles, created 18 beds, built an outdoor kitchen, made a stage, began accessible
pathing and constructed a polytunnel.
In October volunteers at the Plot hosted a lunch to welcome new members and anyone interested in
the work. Around 70 people attended.
The Common Plot is a space to grow and share food, to learn and be active, to connect with one
another and with the world around us. Its development has been supported by the Norfolk
Community Foundation.
How’s Your Father
We are currently devising and staging a play about fatherhood in partnership with Norfolk Children’s
Services, Menscraft and the UEA School of Social Work, the Common Lot toured a play about
fatherhood in October 2021.
The play was performed to sell out audiences and high acclaim in pubs, libraries and at Norwich
Theatre’s Stage Two. The show was also used as a training and discussion tool for social work
students studying at the UEA and has been evaluated as having a positive impact on Social Work
practice in dealing with fathers. In April 2022 it was also performed for inmates of HMP Wayland.
Funding is now being sought to co-create a training resource for social workers with Dads Matter of
Children’s Services using research from ‘How’s Your Father?’.
The project is supported by funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, The Geoffrey
Watling Trust, The UEA Research Impact Fund and Norfolk County Council.

Rosie’s Plaques
Rosie’s Plaques, the guerrilla art project staged by women of The Common Lot to celebrate the lives,
achievements and spaces of women, worked with the following groups to new alternative blue
plaques: The Phoenix Centre – women of Mile Cross; Lichfield Wayward Women’s group; Mile Cross
Library; Pendle Radicals; Paston Letters; and Norwich Women’s Institute. The Rosie’s made a total of
28 new plaques.
The caravan was refurbished and adapted as a mobile workshop. A website was created which
includes a Plaque Map and online shop. The Rosie’s ran an International Women’s Day plaque rocks
project, delivered 6 school assemblies and a training session on heritage and activism for Norfolk
Museums.
The Rosie’s raised £3000 for local charity supporting victims of sexual assault.
A grant was received for ‘Rename the Streets: Stories of North Norwich Women’ from the Norwich
Good Economy Commission.

The Common Lot partnered with Our Subversive Voice at the University of East Anglia on a project
looking at the history of the English protest song. By February a schedule working towards a free
outdoor show in June had been created and a public meeting held to launch the project. Participants
were also invited to a series of devising workshops to help create the script and choose the songs. In
addition four song -writing commissions were also advertised and applied for with the logistical and
financial support of the National Centre for Writing.
The Arts Stream of Norwich City of Sanctuary
The Common Lot is a founder member and supporter of the Arts Stream of Norwich City of
Sanctuary. Covid postponed plans for a fundraising art auction in March 2020. By the start of 2021 it
was clear that Covid wasn’t going anywhere, and the Arts Stream had a lot of artworks to sell, and
much needed funds to raise. They took the whole project online, and with the world now used to
conducting its affairs on Zoom, attracted a large and generous virtual audience in March 2021.
Amidst much hilarity, a few technical glitches, and the bizarre experience of the auctioneer and the
clerks being spread out in one large empty room attempting to create a celebratory and communal
atmosphere, an amazing £11,000 was raised. This was split equally between the members of the
Norwich Integration Partnership, with the Arts Stream keeping a smaller amount towards future
activities.
The Arts Stream met twice more in the year. It attracts a small loyal group of participants, with more
on the mailing list, but Common Lot members are taking the lead. Plans were drawn up to play a
larger part in Refugee Week 2022, supporting New Routes who lead on the project. Both the
Common Lot and other arts organisations pledged support and organised events, and by the end of
February 2022 a plan was in place….