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• 17 October 2026 /
• Bournville Lantern Lectures... Disrupted!

Step back in time for an immersive, family friendly performance, and lively retelling of an original Bournville Lecture, brought to life by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

The original lecture: 

This performance is inspired by an original lecture delivered by Cadbury Bros employees in the early twentieth century to promote their utopian vision for modern housing, community, and industry. 

The lecture took audiences from Britain and beyond on a ‘tour of the factory and the social and educational institutions at Bournville’ through words and striking colour images. One lecture titled Bournville Village introduced the audience to the ‘housing experiment of Bournville, and its cottages, buildings, and institutions.'

A modern re-telling:

Accompanied by the original glass lantern slides and a lantern projector, The Rep have recreated this 1906 lecture, bringing important historical figures to life.

The experience starts outside the Quaker Meeting House, where audiences are invited to step back in time before crossing the threshold into a reimagined space of intrigue, mystery, and memory. Lantern projections flicker across the walls as figures from history are conjured into the present. Through a blend of storytelling, visual spectacle and historical interpretation, audiences encounter the radical social vision behind Bournville in vivid, unexpected ways.

Part historical re-enactment, part immersive theatre this unique event invites audiences to see, hear and feel history unfolding around them.

Tickets: 

Saturday 17th October 2026

Location: Bournville Friends Quaker Meeting House, B30 1JT

Duration: 1 hour

Times: 10am, 12pm, and 2pm

Cost: Pay as you can, with a recommended minimum fee of £3 per person. Pre-booking is essential. A booking link will be available here soon.  

This project has been created in partnership with University of Birmingham, Bournville Village Trust, and The Rep. Generously funded by the Public Engagement Fund, University of Birmingham. 

This exciting family-friendly show is a partnership between Bournville Village Trust, University of Birmingham, and The Rep. 

Accessibility: 

The performance will move across the site of the Quaker Meeting House on level ground. If you would like to know more or discuss accessibility, then please call the Selly Manor Museum team on 0121 472 0199.