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Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Vanbrugh 300 is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to develop a nationwide project that aims to broaden the awareness of Vanbrugh through special displays, free education programmes and lectures, throughout his tercentenary year in 2026.
Working with local community artist Ruth Mary Johnson, Andrew Weatherhead and Jack Knox, Northern Butterflies explored the life and work of Sir John Vanbrugh through drama, imagination and play, culminating in their own original performance. Northern Butterflies is a small creative charity in Southeast Northumberland supporting people with learning disabilities and those with mental ill-health, using artistic practice to boost wellbeing and confidence.
The performance was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is a core part of the community programme for Vanbrugh 300. One of the key objectives of the project is to develop and strengthen relationships with community groups, particularly those who may not have previously engaged with the sites, and to encourage new audiences to take part in festival activity.
Sam, group leader from Northern Butterflies, said: “we were delighted to have been part of this extraordinary, exceptional project Vanbrugh 300. I personally have been impressed by the dedication and achievements of those performing. Ruth has a natural gift and worked magnificently with the learners creating a unique performance in such a short space of time. It makes me wonder on a longer delivery what the group could achieve next. I feel the project has proved to the learners what is possible and I know they are all very proud of themselves. Seaton Delaval Hall has a special place in many of the learners hearts. I feel the project arrived at the right time for us on our heritage journey and I look forward to the working with Ruth again aligning art and audio in other heritage sites.”
Director and Community Artist Ruth Mary Johnson said about the Northern Butterflies project:
'I had the pleasure of meeting Northern Butterflies in January with an introduction session to the project. When meeting any group for the first time before you have even started a creative process, the questions are multiple: What will the group be like? Will they be interested? How are we going to make a theatre in 5 sessions?
Those questions were answered immediately and positively from the warm welcome we received as we first entered the Northern Butterflies studio in Cramlington and were greeted by the group with open arms.
As a way of getting to know each other, we started by sharing our favourite biscuits in honour of Sir John Vanbrugh being part of the Kit Kat Club and one of the group called us The Biscuit Club and the seed of the idea for the show was sown.
And this is how we have worked together over the 5 sessions, exploring a fact or a question about Sir John Vanbrugh, who quickly and affectionately became Sir Jonny V to the group, and capturing our thoughts and feelings about him. What was so apparent throughout the process was how Vanbrugh was inspiring the group, not only to perform on a stage (the first time for some) but to be their own “Bad Boss” - a term created by one of the group to highlight what a visionary he was. This inspiration became the driving force for the show we created and the reason why the group became “The Bad Boss Biscuit Club” - a theatre company of their own with ambitions to create more performance-based work.
Over our time together, confidence, passion for research and pride in what they have created has grown and shone with the group absolutely owning their place on the beautiful stage at Seaton Delaval Hall on 28th March 2026. One of the group members said on the day, “I think Sir Jonny V will be looking down on us with pride today.” And I think she is right.'
