Bradford-based Common Wealth Theatre's timely new production You Are Here as a Witness

Their latest production You Are Here As a Witness, which opens at Theatre in the Mill next week, is a perfect example. Based on real-life testimonies and extensive research, it explores domestic abuse and has been commissioned by and made in partnership with The Anah Project, a domestic abuse service for Black and Asian women based in Bradford. Incidents of domestic abuse rose sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, so it is a timely production to be bringing to audiences.

The seeds of You Are Here As a Witness were sown more than ten years ago when Common Wealth staged their acclaimed production Our Glass House – a ground-breaking play about domestic abuse, made in collaboration with survivors, that toured the UK in 2012 and was performed in residential houses. The company also took it up to the Edinburgh Fringe festival where it won the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award and later contributed to a change in domestic abuse laws in Scotland. “Our Glass House made a huge impact and it is a production that we are incredibly proud of; it has a special place in our hearts,” says Common Wealth’s co-artistic director Evie Manning, who is directing You Are Here As a Witness. “When the show was originally staged back in 2012, the Anah Project brought domestic abuse survivors to see it and it made a big impression. They approached us and asked us if we could revive Our Glass House as a way of raising awareness of the issue, which sadly hasn’t gone away in the ten years since, and of their services. It felt like a really important thing to do.”

Using some of the original text and interviews for Our Glass House, with additional material created from more recent interviews and research, the play tells the stories of three characters – Nicola who is seven months pregnant and newly married, Anah who is from Pakistan and only speaks Urdu and 10-year-old Charlie whose father is violent and controlling. The way the play is structured is that all three narratives unfold simultaneously with the three actors – Leah Francis, Saher Shah and Remy Manning – sharing their stories of control, fear, love and ultimately hope against a multi-disciplinary backdrop that includes sound design, animation and illustration.

While the show is open to everyone, Common Wealth have also extended invitations to specific groups such as domestic abuse charities, health and social care professionals and the police. “Theatre is such an emotional, live place – people can have real breakthroughs when they are watching a piece like this,” says Manning. “When we did Our Glass House, we had feedback from some social workers who said they had a real change in their thinking and had questioned their actions as a result of seeing the play.” After each show there will be a period of reflection and discussion with the audience and the Anah Project and other domestic abuse services will be there to offer advice and guidance, if required.

In the years since Our Glass House was first staged, coercive control has been recognised as domestic abuse – with new legislation introduced in 2015 making it a criminal offence – and it is one of the key themes explored in You Are Here As a Witness. “We would like people to go away from the show and reflect on what they have seen and think about what constitutes abuse, even if it is not physical violence,” says Manning. “We hope it will help people to identify it, recognise signs of abuse and most importantly speak up and act as witnesses for each other.”

Our Glass House not only raised awareness of what it is like for women living with abuse on a daily basis but it also changed lives. “In the post-show discussions we had a lot of people disclose their experiences and many who said ‘I think I am in an abusive relationship right now’,” says Manning. “With theatre, and I learnt this from Our Glass House, you don’t know the ripples you create, who is going to see it and what it might do for them. I am really hoping we have a similar response and connection to this production.”

You Are Here as a Witness is at Theatre in the Mill, Bradford, November 23-26. Tickets via commonwealththeatre.co.uk