Culture And Memory

'Page of Plymouth’: Ben Jonson and Thomas Dekker's lost play, storytelling and ordinary lives in late C16 Plymouth

’Page of Plymouth’ will look anew at the stories Plymouth tells of itself, aiming to reach beyond dominant male historical narratives of world expansion and war. Using a lost play by one of this country’s greatest ever writers, about a notorious murder in the city and its depiction in various media including pamphlets and ballads, we will investigate Elizabethan Plymouth through ordinary working lives, particularly from the female perspective. Marking the fifth anniversary of The Box and drawing on their collection and archives, our project will reveal the materiality of day to day life, looking at how literature, arts, archives and objects both reveal the past and reflect how we live today. This will be achieved through the project’s community engagement, public workshops, talks and presentations, showing how archival and creative practice can coalesce to create new inspiring connections for people to their city.