Founded by Jeremy Scott and writer Greg Lawrence, Plant Assembly Arts is a Kentish cooperative of actors, directors, filmmakers, writers, digital artists and musicians who have come together to create theatre and film which explore pressing social and political issues in dialogue with local people. The aim is to create an accessible platform for these voices, and at the same time develop and showcase innovative creative practice. 

In the context of Brexit, the pandemic and the ongoing, often toxic, debates around immigration and belonging, something often seems to be forgotten: the quiet, ordinary lives go on in the shadow of so much division and acrimony. ‘The Plant’ project is a series of community-devised plays and film installations with traditional music that dramatises these lives, exploring these intensifying divisions in an imagined community somewhere in England. The story centres on a young couple, Niall and Maddie, and their attempt to build a life together in the shadow of profound change.

For the 2026 iterations of the project, we are creating partnerships with the community, running creative workshops to capture responses to the themes of our work. The results will form the basis of short films taking different forms: documentary, fiction or a blend of the two, musical performance, sound art, creative writing and filmed readings. The films will be soundtracked by music from the area and filmed on location. The finished films will be screened before the performances of newly-devised versions of The Plant play at each of our venues, ‘framing’ the play to make it directly relevant to the area in which it is being performed, and giving ownership of the project to the community.