2015 saw 30 years since the “Battle of the Beanfield” – a brutal crackdown on the annual Stonehenge Free Festival. Called away from policing the miners’ strike, officers enforced an injunction around the ancient stones with bloody violence and mass arrests.
Determined to mark the anniversary, we set out to create a historical re-enactment – interviewing a traveller, a police officer and a journalist before driving to Wiltshire armed with homemade riot gear, a map and a video camera.
In this multimedia show, the footage is intercut with a live performance attempting to capture the 2015 summer solstice at Stonehenge: there are hot dog stands, Hare Krishnas and MDMA, as a group of young people try to connect—but it all feels a bit fake.
The Beanfield was created using a devising process with the cast.
Live Director: Billy Barrett
Video Director: Dorothy Allen-Pickard
Cast: Billy Barrett, Grace Holme, Anna-Himali Howard, Max Kennedy, Ellice Stevens, Tom Wright
Producer: Amanda Fawcett
Production designer: Ethan Hudson
Winner: Total Theatre Award in the Emerging Company Category, 2015
