Lighthouse is joining in the celebrations to mark 30 years of the National Lottery and its ongoing support of arts projects.
“This is a huge milestone, the perfect moment to reflect on the amazing, life-changing projects that have been made possible by National Lottery players,” says Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain.
As a partner in the National Lottery’s 2019 Future Arts Centres campaign, Lighthouse commissioned Dorset playwright Andrew Muir to write The Heart at the Centre of the World as one of 40 new projects taking place in and around 40 arts centres as part of Here and Now, a national and local celebration of culture within communities.
Supported by National Lottery and Arts Council England it was created in collaboration with and performed by students from Bournemouth & Poole College who took part in several workshops and R&D sessions with Andrew Muir and director Janisè Sadik of Young Vic Directors and Paines Plough. The students shared their stories about growing up and their hopes, dreams and fears for the future, all of which fed into the play.
After being delayed by the pandemic, The Heart at the Centre of the World premiered at Lighthouse on Saturday 10 July 2021 as part of Lighthouse: OUTSIDE, the venue’s response to being unable to stage shows indoors under Covid restrictions. The play was also staged in Hamworthy Park as part of Paines Plough’s Roundabout tour, Hope To See You There, in October that year.
In 2022 and 2023, Lighthouse spearheaded Love Your Local Theatre, the National Lottery’s two-for-one ticket offer, in Dorset. The campaign followed its support in 2018 and 2019 for the National Lottery’s offer of free cinema tickets for players.
(NC)
