His final report: What to expect from York Theatre Royal Play

This summer, his final report, York Theatre Royal's latest massive community production, will advance to the main house stage.

A brand new play co-written by Misha Duncan Burley and Bridget Foreman, the show looks at Sheebomb Lowtree, one of York's most influential social reformers.

We caught up with writer Misha Duncan Burley and asked about the process of co-writing the play and what the audience is looking forward to…

What can viewers expect from the play?

His final report examines Seebohm Rowntree's career, focusing specifically on his philanthropy and the three welfare reports he wrote. The play references all three reports, but mainly focuses on the first report. These reports examined the quality of life of people living in York, analyzed the root causes of poverty, and shed light on poverty across the country.

The play focuses on the power of the community and the determination to improve the home of one man by challenging the system that supports poverty.

Seebohm Rowntree is not concerned with not only economic poverty but cultural deprivation, but emphasizes how communities suffer when cultures are inaccessible. It explores poverty in a broader sense, and examines the systems and structures that perpetuate it.

Poverty is an important theme, but it is basically a really fun story we tell. The play asks you questions, walks away and thinks, but in addition to that there is circus, dance, time travel, lots of humor and light.

Viewers can expect something different than they've seen before. Scripts play in both time and space, and in that sense it has a truly fluid structure. He's as bold and bright as Seebohm's life.

How did the idea for the show come about?

In his final report, this process was slightly different from previous community productions. This is because they have taken a co-created approach to the development of their works and have been involved in the community since their inception. After the sovereign ended in 2023 (the theater's last large community production), we sent out a survey to all involved to gather ideas about the show and ask the York stories they wanted to explore in future productions. We then held a focus group with the community to discuss their ideas in greater depth.

Promotional poster for his final report – This year's Community Sheetl Project at York Theatre Royal I received many ideas and insights from the research and focus groups. From there, we identified general threads and potential stories that could be communicated on a large scale. We narrowed these down to the top five ideas and held sessions with members of our local community. There, we pitched each concept and gathered feedback on which stories felt most connected.

Rowntrees appeared as a suggestion and fact that we know a lot about our family, but we don't know much about Seebohm and his work on poverty. It was a great opportunity to dive into their history, their family life and how it affected us all. The work on poverty that Seebohm felt was very related to what is happening in today's world, and in 2025, it felt like the perfect time to explore this topic, marking the 100th anniversary of Joseph Rowntree's death – Seebohm's father.

What was the process of co-writing the play?

It was the first time I co-written a play and the process was really interesting. Bridget and I split the story into strands and then started working on different sections, splitting the characters and heroes, and swapping and changing as we went on. Sometimes we sat in the same room and we were separate and then we came together to share ideas and writing.

This was a very enjoyable collaboration with Bridget and it was a real learning curve for me as the plays have come together over the last few months. The instinct was very important and we were using our guts during the editing process – we had so many great scenes that ended up on the floor of the genius room, but we're really excited by the script we've finished. I can't wait to see the actor bring it back to life on stage.

What was your most surprising thing about the duration of play being set and the history of the Sheebom Roun Tree?

Seebohm Rowntree. Photos included It is fascinating how much it unfolded during Seebohm Rowntree's life. Each decade has brought about a major change, from two world wars, technological revolutions, women's rights to the early formation of the welfare state and, of course, the growth of the family business of rowntree.

Seebohm's story turns out to be very exciting. He was one man who achieved so many things. The chemist, the head of the wartime munitions department, and the very theatre officers, the list continues. But despite his achievements, he remained humble and allowed his work to speak for himself, while having a lasting impact on a national scale.

Learning more about Quaker history is very interesting, and how did you strive for equality in everything, especially in gender. Seebohm really highlighted the women around him and we assured him that we have strong female characters in the play.

Finally, why do people have to come and see the play?

Community production is really beautiful. It's unique to bring together so many volunteers to create something special. Not all theatres have the ability to do this, so it's great that York can reach out to the local community and feel that the space is really for them. It's really great to see new writing on such a large main stage.

The play is filled with both pleasant moments and deep, moving, heartbreaking connections between the characters. It makes you laugh, cry, and hopefully make you feel inspired to get out into the world and make a difference in yourself. It's a historical drama, but it's told through modern eyes and is deeply connected to what's going on now. It is set to be an absolute luxury for human connection, light, love, passion, and community!

His final report will take place at the main house stage at York Theatre Royal from July 19th to August 3rd. Tickets are currently on sale via box office revenue (01904 623568) and are available at www.yorktheatreloyal.co.uk/show/his-last-report/.