In 1961, director Joan Littlewood and architect Cedric Price began putting together the plans for a laboratory of leisure, a new kind of public structure, what they called the “Fun Palace.” As the original blueprint put it: “dance, talk or be lifted up to where you can see how other people make things work. Sit out over space with a drink and tune in to what’s happening elsewhere in the city. Try starting a riot or beginning a painting – or just lie back and stare at the sky.”

A place of education and a place of play, the fun palace sought to combine the energies of the working man’s club with those of the public garden and the funfair. It was to be an environment that emphasised working-class people’s capacity to stretch out, soak up ideas, and above all, take pleasure for themselves.

The Fun Palace was never built, but sixty years on, the kind of cultural atmosphere that made it seem even briefly possible is almost unimaginable to us. Working-class life is periodically positioned as far away as possible from the impulses of love, sensuality, and pleasure-taking itself. How did this happen? Why does it matter? And more importantly, how can we change it?

This lecture will draw on several of the artists featured in Lives Less Ordinary, alongside contemporary writings, pieces of popular culture, and political histories, in an attempt to sketch out a new story about the place of pleasure in working-class Britain.

Jennifer Jasmine White is a writer from the north-west of England. She is currently a doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester, where she also teaches. Her current project revolves around the cultural history of working-class femininity in Britain. Jennifer has written on culture and politics for publications such as the Financial Times, New Statesman, Tribune, and Vittles. You can find more about Jennifer and her work at www.jenniferjasminewhite.com.