Back in 10 performances bring museum shops to life

Every Friday during August they are being staged using the familiar sights in the canalside village and 1930s High Street as a backdrop.

Back in 10, produced by Black Country Touring, was piloted last summer is made up of five shows featuring a range of performing arts including drama, poetry, music and dance.

Each week focuses on a different decade from the 1920s through to the 1960s and three of the shows are being written, choreographed and rehearsed on site.

The first of the 10-15 minute performances, being held during the museum's August Summer Lates season, was presented last week and was based around J. Wiltshire Pawnbrokers.

Other performances will take place at different locations around the open-air site including at Gripton’s Radio, H. Morrall’s Gentlemen’s Outfitters and the cinema yard.

The museum team is due to start work on its new Forging Ahead development set in the 1940s - 1960s, telling the story of social, cultural, commercial and industrial life in the Black Country during this period.

This has provided plenty of inspiration for the performers, led by Black Country Touring’s co-artistic director, Steve Johnstone.

“The new development offers us a great opportunity to tell some of the stories from the era when there is still so much relevance to issues today.

"In an age of austerity and pay-day loans we told the story of poverty in the 1920s. For the 1930s we look at the revolution in communication.

"In the era of #MeToo we go back to the 1940s to explore the role of women in a post-war world.

"As youth today protest about the devastating effects of climate change it was the film Rock Around The Clock that, in the ‘50s, caused teenagers to riot and demonstrate in the streets.

"As the ‘migrant crisis’ has been used to divide the country with Brexit the 1960’s saw newly arrived communities facing similar hostility,” he said.

Actor Elinor Coleman said the first performance had been well-received by the audiences.

"The audiences get really invested in it. Audiences are encouraged to have an active part in it. It's not about sitting quietly in an auditorium," she added.

Director of Black Country Living Museum, Andrew Lovett said: “This is a wonderful way for the museum to share the news of our new Forging Ahead programme and give visitors a taste of the work that will be taking place at the museum over the next three years.

"We will use real things, real people and real stories to engage and inspire visitors, of all ages, to learn about the Black Country’s heritage, its impact on the world and its relevance today.”

Back in 10, produced by Black Country Touring and developed in partnership with Black Country Living Museum and Creative Black Country, is part of a broader project and will be brought right up to the present day.

Throughout September Black Country Touring will be working in eight distinct shops across West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

The shows at the Black Country Living Museum can be seen during the Summer Lates programme where admission is £5 after 4pm.

They will take place at 4.45pm, 5.30pm, 6.15pm and 7pm tonight and on August 9, 16, 23 and 30.