Until the start of last year, 13-year-old Blessing had never been to a theatre and her only experience of performing was as a narrator in a school assembly.

That all changed when the Londoner joined the National Theatre’s Public Acts initiative, which creates participatory theatre with local communities. Blessing was one of a 200-strong company of amateur actors, dancers and musicians of all ages who performed in a unique production of Shakespeare’s Pericles at the National last August.

She says the performers felt a sense of collaboration, and the project broadened her horizons. “It made us come together and it had a good impact on the audience,” she adds. “It also made me have confidence and realise my potential in acting. I would like to pursue it in the future – acting is a good way of expressing who you might be in real life.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, meets Blessing during a visit to the National Theatre in London. Photograph: Reuters

The amateur cast members were recruited via eight partner organisations: Coram, Open Age, Thames Reach and Body & Soul, Faith & Belief Forum, Havering Asian Social Welfare Association (HASWA), Bromley by Bow Centre and DABD – chosen because they represent a cross section of the capital. The aim was to reach people of different ages and social groups from many different areas of the city.

The Public Acts team spent time building relationships with the partner organisations, and organised workshops and social events as well as rehearsals. They also invited the groups and performers to see other productions at the theatre.

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Another performer in the Pericles cast was Percy, 49, who discovered both a passion for performing and a talent for singing. “Theatre is something I never really thought of ever getting into but I just decided through encouragement from a friend to give this a go,” he says. “I got in touch with the company and they have unearthed some talent in me that I never knew I had. The company has become my family because it has really helped me see what I can do.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Percy (left) in rehearsal for the Public Acts production of Pericles. Photograph: James Bellorini

Emily Lim, who directed Pericles – described by a Guardian reviewer as “a giddy celebration of humanity and our endless capacity for warmth, togetherness and love” – says the production had an impact on the community cast members, the six professional artists who worked alongside them, and audience members.

“We have heard stories about people finding the confidence to get their first ever job,” she says, “or making new friendships with people from a different generation, area or culture who they didn’t think they’d ever otherwise have met. And even, in one case, suddenly finding their chronic pain causing them much less of an issue.

“Most common of all, perhaps, was a shared sense – that audience members also spoke about night after night – of feeling more connected to their home and their city than they had ever felt previously, something I felt profoundly in myself, too.”

Many participants said they had previously found London an isolating or hostile place, but being part of the production had encouraged them to see the city differently; others reported that taking part had helped them to feel part of a community.

One member of staff at the theatre said the rehearsal room “looked like London”, because the company included people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, abilities and life experiences. Another said it was the first time the theatre connected them with the city they see on their street.

Creativity can make a significant contribution to people’s wellbeing. A two-year inquiry by the all-party parliamentary group on arts, health and wellbeing found the arts can help people to “stay well, recover faster, manage long-term conditions and experience a better quality of life”. Participating in arts helps alleviate anxiety, depression and stress, according to the MPs.

The production of Pericles also brought new audiences to the National. All cast members had at least one friend, family member or supporter come to see them in the show. “A lot of people did comment on how different the foyers felt,” says Lim. “There was an electric sense of excitement.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Public Acts cast in Pericles at the National Theatre. Photograph: James Bellorini

This summer, many of the cast will reunite, joined by further amateur performers recruited by the community partners, for a staging of As You Like It at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch in east London. And next year, Public Acts will work with Cast theatre in Doncaster to put on a community production in the town.

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The Public Acts project was publicly highlighted earlier this year when the Duchess of Sussex came on her first official visit to the National Theatre since being announced as its patron. National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris hopes the duchess’s new role will help promote the theatre’s participatory programme more widely, and the scheme is at the forefront of Norris’s ambition to make the National Theatre complex on the South Bank feel more like a community centre.

Pericles cast member Sharon, 47, sums up the benefits she has felt from the project: “It just helps with my wellbeing. I’ve met so many new friends. Last summer was the best summer ever; I didn’t see much sun – but it was the best summer ever.”