Compressor House Warming: The Newham Plays

See a series of powerful plays on film by writer and lecturer, James Kenworth.

The Newham Plays are a ground breaking theatrical series by former long-term resident and playwright/creative writing tutor James Kenworth, celebrating the stories, spaces, and people of the borough. Staged and recorded in site-responsive locations, the plays merge professional performance with community participation, particularly involving local youth. These productions aim to reconnect Newham's residents with their cultural roots, reinterpreting history and literature through a local, socially conscious lens.

Set and filmed in Newham, they blend bold political storytelling with the local landscape bringing the area’s history and activism to life on screen.

Screenings – pop in and watch, no need to book:

Monday 29 September, 12pm
Revolution Farm (2014) modernizes Orwell’s Animal Farm with urban grit and a youth-oriented visual style, recorded at Newham City Farm.

Tuesday 30 September, 12pm
A Splotch of Red: Keir Hardie in West Ham (2015) follows Keir Hardie’s 1892 socialist campaign in West Ham, highlighting the area’s political radicalism.

Wednesday 1 October, 12pm
Alice in Canning Town (2019) reimagines Alice in Wonderland with grime, multiculturalism, and a surreal adventure playground setting, recorded in Canning Town’s Arc in the Park.

Thursday 2 October, 6pm
Elizabeth Fry: 'The Angel of Prisons' (2022) explores the legacy of the famed prison reformer and humanitarian, staged and recorded in the Elizabeth Fry Room at Canning Town Library.

Friday 3 October, 6pm - 8pm - plus meet and Q&A with James Kenworth
Myrninerest: The Outside/Inside Life of Madge Gill (2024) premiered at Art in the Docks, an artist-led social enterprise in the Royal Docks, is an intimate portrait of Madge Gill, a self-taught Outsider artist and spiritual medium from Newham.

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