The Talking Drum: Voices from the Andover Estate announced at Park Theatre

Through interwoven stories spanning more than 50 years, a new verbatim play offers counter-narrative to the negative media narrative of the Andover Estate, which has tarnished the reputation of the area for decades. The Talking Drum: Voices from the Andover Estate has been created from three years of interviews conducted by a project team from London Metropolitan University, adapted by writer-director Tony Graham, and made in collaboration with Park Theatre, who work year-round with Andover Community Centre. Following Andover Estate residents – a retired ballerina finds herself suddenly homeless, a youth worker struggling against stereotypes at university, resident ‘007’ who can’t get the council to listen, and NJ, who dreams of being allowed to play the African Drums – it shows a diverse, multi-cultural, multi-generational community.

The stories offer an urgent and deeply personal counter-narrative to decades of negative media portrayal of London estates. A blend of theatre, grassroots storytelling and digital media, the production explodes assumptions about class and identity to ask: what does community mean to residents now?

Interviews were conducted by a project team from London Metropolitan University led by Professor John Gabriel with Dr Alya Khan and former resident of the Andover Estate Gulser Rose Kaya, and adapted into a stage play by writer-director Tony Graham, who said, “A few years ago, I was at a meeting where John Gabriel had made a short presentation about the Andover Oral History project. To transform it into theatre was just taking it a step further and, with superb support and encouragement from Park Theatre, offering that platform. It’s been important to capture the residents’ voices and experiences honestly while finding a way to do what theatre does: to entertain, challenge, enlighten and surprise us.”

The London Metropolitan University project team has continued to work with Andover Estate residents alongside the play's development, including facilitating workshops with the Andover Estate Youth Group. Gulser Rose Kaya added, “As a former resident of the Andover Estate and a long serving volunteer in the community, being involved in the oral history project has been incredibly meaningful to me. What I value most about the project is its commitment to co-production, with residents playing an active role in telling their own stories. Ultimately, I hope the play not only preserves the stories of the estate but also encourages policymakers, housing providers, and others to listen to residents and learn from their lived experiences when making decisions that shape our communities.”

Park Theatre works closely with Andover Community Centre. They facilitate the Andover Creative Writers group who meet weekly at the Centre to produce collaborative work, including a poetry anthology and, most recently, a radio play. The group also has regular theatre trips to Park Theatre. At the annual free, community fun day Soul in the City, which is hosted on the Estate, the venue has organised workshops such as a beatboxing workshop and run a pop-up stage for residents. Led by Park Theatre’s Creative Engagement team, the programme of events is run as partnership projects between Park Theatre and the Andover Community Centre.

Park Theatre Artistic Director Jez Bond said, “In recent years, we've worked closely with the Andover Community Centre offering a range of engagement activities to celebrate creativity on the Andover Estate. We're excited to strengthen our relationship with the estate and the Andover Community Centre even further as we collaborate with them on The Talking Drum,which is not only a captivating work of verbatim drama, but also an essential opportunity to amplify the voices of residents of the estate.”

The Talking Drum: Voices from the Andover Estate runs at Park Theatre 19 - 29 August, tickets at www.parktheatre.co.uk