Some answers...
An opera set on a beach. A play in the arctic. Artworks highlighting air pollution. A venue for activism housed in a neglected adventure playground.
Lewisham have been speaking, rapping, singing and sketching to articulate their views on how air pollution, global warming and severe weather will affect the borough as part of their London Borough of Culture year. We spoke to creatives and producers about how they handled the subject.
Bring the arctic to the banks of the Thames
The Gretchen Question had three narrative themes including Victorian age of adventure, modern day influencers greenwashing the arctic and the near future; where the reality of a changing climate began to set in. Photo above taken by Helen Murray shows Alex Mugnaioni, Ryan Gerald and Tamaira Hesson in The Gretchen Question.
Plaster the council’s office with drawings
For Breathe 2022 Dryden Goodwin sat and drew six people from Lewisham as they breathed in and out to highlight the impact of air quality on people's lives in the borough. In 2013 Lewisham resident Ella Kissi-Debrah was the first person to have air pollution from the south circular road included on her death certificate, her mother Rosamund is amongst the figures drawn and pasted on Lewisham Town Hall.
Build the future climate movement out of haybales
The Richard MacVicar Adventure playground in Deptford was taken over by Sounds Like Chaos to build a place for the young people of Lewisham for activism. Built from the ground up by young people and for young people to develop as the creative leaders of tomorrow.
Sing about the Great Barrier Reef
In June, the stage at The Albany in Deptford was flooded with sand to create Sun & Sea (Marina), first seen at the Lithuanian pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Performers sing about the whitening of the Great Barrier Reef and rubbish-choked ocean as they rub suncream in, play badminton or read.
Build a street theatre revolution!
Teatro Vivo became agents of change embedding themselves in Lewisham Council, attending every single meeting of the environment team and taking to the streets in every ward in the borough with their usherettes, street characters designed to find out about concerns people had about the planet.