I Was There

Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival’s Oral History Project I Was There set out to capture the stories of our iconic buildings from the people who have visited, worked and performed in them.

In 2019 we issued a call-out for people to come forward with their memories of Brighton Dome. Simultaneously we began to recruit a volunteer team to capture their stories.

From 2019–2022 we captured 18 interviews and trained 44 volunteers in Oral History skills.

The covid pandemic forced us to be creative and learn new skills, carrying out our volunteer training and recording interviews remotely via zoom.

There are five chapters of content for you to listen to - click the links below to hear our I Was There project:

Part One - Childhood Memories
Part Two - Gigs and Fashions
Part Three - Histories and Reimaginings
Part Four - Arts and Events
Part Five - Architecture and Audience

With thanks to our contributors:

Richard Bates
Nicola Benge
Val Benney
Melita Dennett
Davinder Dhillon
Herbie Flowers
Peter Ford
Sean Goddard
Gavin Henderson CBE
Harry Hillery
Trevor MacNeil
Paul Richards
‘Latest’ Bill Smith
Pippa Smith
William ‘Billy’ Stainthorpe
Nicola Thornton
Kevin Tindall
Cuthbert Williams MBE 

Our thanks also go to Strike A Light Arts & Heritage and sound artist Helen Anahita Wilson.