Sam Rees discusses The Food Bank Show
The Carmen Collective, formed by Artistic Directors Ella Dale and Sam Rees, aim is to bring us ‘Loud & unapologetic storytelling’. And their latest production, The Food Bank Show, feels very much in keeping with that statement. The Food Bank Show tells the real-life stories of people stuck in food poverty, and is based on over a year of in-depth research. It promises to be an electrifying exploration of a failing system, the people caught in its web, and those striving to change it.
We caught up with Sam Rees to find out about this exploration of food poverty and the politics of food insecurity in the UK, ahead of the show coming to Camden People’s Theatre from 31 October.
Great to meet you Sam, so shall we do some introductions to get things started.
I’m Sam Rees, the writer and performer of The Food Bank Show, produced by Carmen Collective.
What can audiences expect from the show?
On one level, the show is a documentary theatre piece exploring food poverty in the UK, based on conversations conducted over the course of a year with various people connected to the idea of food insecurity and provision. So it’s filled with these encounters I had with food bank beneficiaries, volunteers, activists, academics, and politicians.
On another level, the show is a consideration of how we build spaces, who we invite in, and who we keep out. We’re working towards a genuinely communal experience – the show spills out into the foyer pre-performance, where we give out dinner to our audience. There are games with prizes, there are stupid jokes – the whole thing is an attempt to deliver hard information in as light and engaging a way as possible. We want to make people feel like they’re part of something meaningful.
How do you think the show’s message will resonate with current societal issues?
In 2010, 60,000 food parcels were delivered in the UK. In 2024, that number stands at over three million. Overall, we have eight million people in food poverty. To the extent that the show has a message, it’s that these things don’t make any sense, we’re not insane for thinking that, and it’s absolutely imperative that we have a conversation about it.
What is it you hope the audience thinks after watching the show?
The show is, by design, quite sprawling in its discussion, so I really hope that everybody learns something from it. I’m attempting to have a proper conversation with the audience, to try and get around some of the barriers that can hamper theatre’s ability to cut through. Because of that, I’ve tried to incorporate a variety of access points – there are lots of ways for people to connect to the material. I’d love a spectrum of reactions: enraged, motivated, dejected, hopeful. I just want to create a space where we can all consider what exactly is going wrong, why it’s happening, and how we might fix it.
Where are you playing?
We’re at Camden People’s Theatre from 31st October to 2nd November at 9pm. We’re there because the show is appearing as part of CPT’s The State We’re In Festival 2024, a collection of shows exploring the political climate in the UK right now. It’s massively exciting to present our work in that context.
Is the version coming to the Camden People’s Theatre how you originally envisioned it, or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
Something I’ve found hugely exciting about this process is the fact that the show has been written in real-time, so baked into its structure is this rush to keep up with events and discoveries as they happened. For instance, the government refused to lift the two-child-benefit-cap whilst I was in the later stages of drafting, and it became totally important and necessary to find a way to incorporate that. I imagine between now and performance, something else will happen that will need to find its way in. I hope that’s a reflection of the fact that what we’re making is relevant, and is part of a dynamic political conversation.
If you could have any special guest (living or dead) attend your show, who would it be and why?
My petulant answer would be George Osborne, for obvious reasons. We could do a swap and I could go on his silly little podcast in return.
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned from preparing for and participating in this show?
That out there right now, there are so many people trying to affect positive change in dire circumstances, creating spaces, holding each other, in the face of impossible odds. We should focus our attention there because if there’s any hope, it’s contained in those rooms and those places.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career?
The same advice has come to me in various forms over and over again. It basically amounts to: don’t make the work that you think people will like. It’s a lesson I have to repeatedly remind myself of because there’s some odd paradox where trying to please an audience tends to please nobody. Just have faith that your unique perspective on things is worth hearing, and people will respond to you doing your own thing. The projects of mine that have resonated the most with people are absolutely not the ones I would have predicted. So yes, start with your passion and your idiosyncrasy—that’s what’s most valuable about you.
Thanks to Sam for chatting with us.
The Food Bank Show will being playing at the Camden People’s Theatre between 31st October and 2nd November. The show is supported by Arts Council England, The Trussell Trust and Theatre Deli.
Further information and tickets are available here.
If you are able, please donate to The Trussell Trust.
