On the day the UK announces new tier restrictions for the winter months of the Covid-19 pandemic, theatre and tech company C&T announce a major new participatory project anyone - schools, colleges, villages, towns and cities- can take part in.

Enquire Within Upon Everything reinvents the classic Victorian self-help book of the same name, for the internet age. It is an invitation to anyone to pose practical questions they need help with during the pandemic.  In response, the project aims to inspire people to make short drama-inspired ‘Explainer’ videos to help those in need of assistance.

“Whether it’s the best story to get kids to sleep during lockdown or how people can help promote their food bank, we want to hear about the challenges people are currently having to face up to” said C&T’s Artistic Director, Paul Sutton.  “No question is too big or too small.”

“The Enquire Within website will help people make the simple videos that will answer the questions posed by the public.” said Paul. “They can easily send them to us and we will post them on the website for everyone to see. Over time, we hope that the Enquire Within website will become a repository of local expertise that can help everyone get through the challenges we are all facing, just as the original book did.”

 There are a variety of ways people can become involved in Enquire Within.

Online meet-ups

A series of weekly online events will take place online from 1st December. C&T hope that a diverse mix of people will join in, asking questions and sharing challenges they are currently facing under lockdown. C&T believe the better the mix the more exciting the results.

Our weekly online fora will be relaxed, informal spaces anyone can join. They are founded on the principle that a problem shared is a problem halved. Put the kettle on, sign in from either a computer or smartphone and get chatting with other people from across your community. You can find out more and sign up here.

Schools

Schools and young people will be encouraged to join in too, with special online workshops to help students and teachers get started. Young people have so much digital know-how. C&T hopes that schools can be the glue that helps make Enquire Within a success, solving problems for others.

An online teachers’ meeting will introduce schools to Enquire Within, explaining the process of getting involved and the chance to meet practitioners and answer any questions.

Free online workshops will demonstrate research techniques that can help students find answers to problems people are facing and how to translate those facts into socially-distanced drama. They will also explore simple film-making techniques relevant to theatre makers, helping the process of capturing live drama and turning it into media content. All of this is made possible by C&T’s Prospero. Online Prospero workshops are available from 10 December.

Interactive walking tours

Over the next few months C&T will announce a series of interactive walking tours to inspire people to take part in Enquire Within. The first of these will be in our home city of Worcester, with other villages, towns and cities across England joining the list in early 2021. Safe and socially distanced, these interactive walks just need you and your smartphone. Sign up for information here.

Around the world

We want Enquire Within to become a global project. We already have partners in New York City and Nairobi, with more to follow. All the tutorials are free for anyone to use, anywhere. If you think you could host an event in your area, please contact us. Teacher’s meetings for non GMT timezones will be announced in the new year.

Enquire Within is made possible by Prospero and C&T, the innovative theatre and technology company. It is supported by Arts Council England, the National Lottery Community Fund and Innovate UK.

Sign up for further news about Enquire Within here.