The people of

Revealing the voices behind the faces of a working street.

‘The people of’ is an audio walk that is made with the people who live and work along a chosen street. It invites audiences to stop, to look more closely and to listen to the invisible thoughts and unheard stories of the people who keep a place going.

The policeman who likes to cycle on his days off; the optician training to look everyone deep in the eyes; the daughter of Turkish and Syrian immigrants who sells kebabs but prefers goulash; the funeral director who has seen it all…

Each day, we follow our own routines, working, shopping, eating, meeting friends. Encounters happen like clockwork, or are missed. Over time, people arrive and depart, old businesses close and new ones open, the past fades but never disappears, layered like a palimpsest on the walls, pavements and in people’s minds.

The people of speaks to the forces that shape our daily lives, how identity and a sense of place is formed and renegotiated, and the invisible lines that guide how we navigate public space.

Created by ensemble members Kate Daley and Sarah Hunter, The people of is a new project for Quarantine. First made in Engelskirchen, Germany in September 2020, in the still-rippling wake of the COVID19 pandemic, it reflects our shifting relationship with work, with our neighbours and with public shape.  

Past dates

25 September – 16 October 2020 | Nach dem Beaufsichtigen der Maschinen, Engelskirchen, Germany

The people of is part of Quarantine’s ‘Locating the Commonplace’ programme, generously supported by The Rank Foundation.