Turning local history into theatre: the story of Hannah Wiltshire

This meeting brings together local historians and writer and director Ingrid Jones of the Bedminster based acta Community Theatre. We will discuss the process from the seed of an idea, to research, devising, scripting, rehearsal and performance. We will also consider the difficulties of doing ‘history from below’, researching periods beyond living memory, where to find the voices of people and how to create a script and theatre piece from this. This will be an open discussion with plenty of time for questions.

Our case study will be the story of Hannah Wiltshire, a destitute country girl from Walton-in-Gordano who, in 1855, died in mysterious circumstances in the Bedminster Union workhouse in Flax-Bourton. Her death caused public outrage and the were rumours of murder and a coverup. Ingrid and the acta team are currently working on transforming the history into a performance planned for next year.

Ingrid Jones has worked for acta community theatre for the past thirty years. Over this time she has devised and directed numerous community plays many of which had a local history focus, including: 1963, Gas Girls, Clippies, Ladies Mile, Sailor’s Tales, Lost not Forgotten and Welcome to the Hippodrome.