Last week, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) presented a sharing of new work, entitled Lyndhurst Memories - “an exploration of memory, place and loss” by CJ Lloyd Webley.

The piece celebrates and commemorates a childhood in a Birmingham estate that has now changed beyond recognition. It's a deeply personal and vulnerable piece of theater, but also playful and inviting, opening the doors onto lived experiences with humor, empathy and a lightness of touch.

This was the first sharing of the work, as the Lyndhurst Memories project moves towards its goal of developing into a complete and multi-dimensional piece of theatre. The play is set seemingly within CJ's own memories, evoking the estate's communal yard - dilapidated but treasured - which provides a safe space for children to play, supervised by their families from the windows above. And through the childhood eyes of Chelsea-supporting CJ, it's Stamford Bridge 2.0, with posts at each end in place of goals, and the branches of a tree as ball boys.

The play has been supported with funding from MAC as part of an initiative earmarked to commission new theater from Birmingham based artists. The venue’s Artistic Director, Debbie Kermode, and Performing Arts Producer, Jo Carr (who introduced the sharing) pledged to create this opportunity in the wake of Covid - to counter the impact of the pandemic on live theater. From over 80 applications, CJ's Lyndhurst Memories was selected for the grant - on the strength of its empowerment of people and communities whose voices can easily be lost to history.

Those voices are not only found in CJ's script - the production is a multi-dimensional and multimedia piece, which includes interviews and photographs, collected to enhance the play’s strong sense of place. Excitingly there's also a VR element in development, designed by Taran Singh. All this contributes to the feeling that the audience has been given a glimpse inside a memory, as CJ talks about events on the estate, occasionally hesitating - doubting his own recollection.

The cast who performed this sharing were all hugely invested in the show - Yasmin Dawes, Mathias Andre, Loretta Thompson, Ibrahim Ibrahim and Cory McClane all performed alongside CJ Lloyd Webley, with plenty of skillful character changes along the way. The audience's heartstrings were tugged, as the sense of loss and nostalgia seeped into the crowd. All of the performers - including CJ, who acted as part-narrator, part-participant - bring the characters to life with real energy, and a sense of fun running alongside the more melancholy moments.

This sharing represents MAC’s forward thinking investment in Birmingham, its people and its communities, and it's a credit to both the theatre - for creating this opportunity - and to CJ, that Lyndhurst Memories shows real potential as a thought provoking, evocative and boundary-pushing piece of theatre.