Demand the Impossible is a theatre production that shines a spotlight on the activity of undercover police and the tactics used by the British establishment to undermine progressive groups that dare to question the status quo.
The show will take place in the Corn Exchange, Newport, between 6th and 13th October 2025. Yes, the Corn Exchange. We know. It’s not a theatre in the traditional sense but The Common/Wealth Theatre don’t do theatre in traditional spaces or formats. It is theatre for people who don’t like theatres.
The show will feel more like a gig than a play, with live band Kamikaze Rainbow providing the soundtrack, projections around the space to add to the atmosphere, and the cast mingling with the audience. Is the person next to you another audience member, an actor or an actual undercover cop? Just like in real life, you will not know.
It’s an assault on the senses: it is visual, it is immersive, it is visceral… it is so many things packed into one. It’s exciting, it’s a gig, you’re going to be part of something that is so layered. I don’t think I have been involved in such an exciting show. I would encourage people to come whether you are interested in the subject matter or not … it will blow your mind.
Hussina Raja – actor
The show has been in production for four years – although you could argue it has been in production for almost five decades. Since 1968, hundreds of undercover officers have been deployed in trade unions, anti-racist groups, peace and justice groups, environmental campaigns, animal rights groups – they have even spied on MPs. They have spied on grieving families, stolen the identities of dead children and had sexual relationships with activists who didn’t know their real identity. This isn’t something out of a spy novel, this is real life.
The deployment of secret undercover political police has had an immeasurable impact on those who were infiltrated but it has also had significant consequences for society in general.
It is challenging to express the enormity of the implications of undermining, destabilising and subverting every progressive social movement over 50 years. It has left us with extremism at the centre of UK politics, haunted by the ghosts of a stolen future for a better world.
Tom Fowler, host of the Spycops Info Podcast.
For many years people have talked in hushed tones about phone tapping and the presence of undercover police among activists. But in 2010 Mark Kennedy was outed as an undercover cop and within a short space of time there was an avalanche of reveals, including Marco Jacobs, who embedded himself in the Cardiff Anarchist Network. Just because you are paranoid, it doesn’t mean they are not out to get you. The reveals came so thick and fast the government of the day felt obliged to set up a national inquiry in 2015.
This pulling back of the curtain on the murky world of spycops has resulted in several campaign groups being set up and has prompted numerous books, podcasts, TV documentaries, protest songs and newspaper column inches. Now we can add a play to the list.
For the last four years the Commonwealth Theatre has been in discussion with numerous spied-upon activists to get a feel for how they worked and for a picture of the activist scene they infiltrated.
Many of these discussions have been pulled together by script writer Taylor Edmonds
We have had a really amazing pool of interviews with people who have been directly affected by the undercover policing scandal. As I writer I had a really rich diversity of material to help me form these characters and their stories. So a lot of it is based on what we have actually been told by these activists.
Taylor Edmonds – script writer.
It is not just the script that has been influenced by real life, but the set designers have made note of the environment in which all this activity took place.
Activists talked about the music they listened to, the books they read, how they organised before social media, the posters on bedroom walls, the venues they used to meet in and even the font used on newsletters. No stone was left unturned to make this performance as realistic as possible.
The result is a production that is immersive, exhilarating and thought provoking. For those who remember the events portrayed, it provokes memories of betrayal and a stolen future. For those who were unaware of what was going on in plain sight, it is an eye-opening experience revealing a murky side to the state that most thought was not how the British do things.
But it also prompts memories of solidarity and a reminder that we are not alone. There are many people out there who care about the planet we inhabit and the society in which we live. The show covers activists involved in anti-racism, climate change and the struggle for workers’ rights. The authenticity is added to by the fact that some of the actors involved are activists in real life. They are not just playing a part, they are reflecting on their own experiences.
The audience is free to wander and mingle with the cast, but the space is so engaging you can experience the full force of the performance wherever you are in the room. In fact you could attend every performance and have a different experience every night.
The performance will raise as many questions as it answers. The Undercover Policing Inquiry has already been ongoing for ten years and is due to continue for several more. It is unlikely we will ever know the full story of what went on – or indeed, what is still going on. But, ironically, the inquiry has galvanised many activists who would not normally work with each other to put aside their differences. Probably the last thing the state wanted.
I hope that people will walk away and think about the topics in the show, think about their own personal relationship with the state. The impact that art can have is to hopefully create awareness and some kind of social change.
Hussina Raja – actor
The show takes place between 6th and 13th of October in The Corn Exchange, Newport. To buy tickets go to cornexchangenewport.gigantic.com/promoter/the-corn-exchange-newport
For more information about Commonwealth Theatre go to Demand The Impossible – Common/Wealth
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