Description: The Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP) was formed in 1976 out of protest to the Thames Television ‘Eyesights’ scheme which commissioned professional artists to create posters for display in the borough, rather than investing in local arts projects. A crowded public meeting in February 1975 called for an alternative, bolder plan, bringing together existing and fledgling arts activities under a coordinating body to be called the Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP). The purpose was to create opportunities for everyone to participate in community art. THAP celebrated their achievements with a month-long ‘Big Show’ at the Whitechapel Art Gallery.

The first play is a comedy of errors – two star-crossed lovers played by teenage girls. They are not allowed to marry as one is a prince and another is a commoner, and the Prince’s royal parents refute the partnership.

In the second play, we see another period performance between two women wearing bonnets in a Victorian drama. The plot revolves around an attempted murder of a lord.

The camera then roams around the audience, as new characters emerge on stage. The camera turns to a close-up of a woman in a dress with a bonnet and straw broom. The play includes men in top hats, while one man delivers a satirical soliloquy about achieving aesthetic excellence.

The camera turns again to the audience who chat convivially.

The final play seems to be an Annie-esque, Oliver Twist kind of political drama around inequality in London, with orphaned street children who beg a man in a top hat to help them. The play ends with a song.