Boldly trauma-conscious and survivor-led theatre and participation arts for social change.
NONSENSE!
A co-production with the British Library, Centre 404 and Writerz n Scribez
Did you know that dinosaurs aren't really extinct?
They've just had their heads buried under beanbags for the last several millennia.
Also, an extinct volcano doesn’t just stand there…
... it erupts with RIBENA!
Finally, there wasn’t a Great Fire of London…
… there was a Great Icing of London!
(Which means that everybody froze - not that everybody got covered in cake.)
These discoveries and many more were made by families who worked with us via Writerz n Scribez at Centre 404 and the British Library. Centre 404 offers person centred support to people with
learning disabilities: the kids in our group families were 5-11 year old prodigies, and a mix of autistic and neurotypical siblings. We worked not just with the kids, but their grown-ups too - because we
couldn't keep all our new findings to ourselves, could we?
Taking inspiration from works of nonsense preserved in the British Library by John Taylor, Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and more, we created our very own nonsense world through drama, writing,
music, drawing, sculpting and play. Finally, a place where nothing makes sense to anyone, and
confusion isn't a cause for concern, but an opportunity for fun and creativity.
Who knows: maybe our masterpieces will be preserved with the same love as those from hundreds
of years ago…
SHEROES
A Co-Production with Islington People's Theatre and Pause Islington
In July 2022, we began a 10-week project with our friends at Islington People's Theatre in which we were totally honoured to be able to work with women supported by Pause Islington, an initiative for women who have experienced or are at risk of having children taken into care, and their practitioners.
These are women about whom many in our society have made up their minds before they have even met them. Women whose stories so many people think they already know, without having listened. Women who have taken the blame, been held back by shame and hidden from themselves for far too long.
Taking inspiration from the female-led folk tales explored in Clarissa Pinkola Estes's classic work Women Who Run With The Wolves, we used applied theatre, creative writing, movement, music, art and crafts to look at how tales handed down from generation to generation bring out timeless wisdom and knowledge without exposing the speaker, and become identifiable in universal ways. The all-female space became a haven of safety, creativity, enlightenment, silliness and fun for us as well as for them and their practitioners.
The women made up their own silly stories, their own profound and moving poetry, told their own personal stories through metaphor, dance, sound and drama, and released sides of themselves they had not seen or felt in a long time, if ever.
Meeting in the Ecology Centre of the beautiful Gillespie Park, we were also able to take advantage of the surroundings to be at one with nature, and tend to the plants as we must learn to tend to ourselves. At the end of the project, we planted some evergreens at the entrance on St Thomas's Road, to grow strong and resilient just like these incredible women.
We would have loved to have been able to invite you along to see them in all their glory on the day they shared their performances with a live audience - but unfortunately, the world is not ready to receive these women and their stories at the same time yet. For their safety, their anonymity must be protected.
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Nevertheless, we will be getting them in a recording studio soon, so you can hear their true voices even if you cannot see their faces. We will also be producing an e-zine where you can read their writing and look at their artwork. We can't wait to share it with you!
A DIY MIDSUMMER SKATE DREAM
A Co-production with The Grove DIY
In the summer of 2022, Response Ability Theatre teamed up with The Grove DIY skate park to reimagine a much-loved classic with a little-known community of 16-30 year old grassroots artists.
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Located on the cusp between Dulwich and Peckham, these young people who took over an unused pub car park, built some ramps with their bare hands and made their mark with graffiti and random items of discarded furniture, were not universally met with approval. So we helped them hone their skills on and off their skateboards to create a dynamic, virtuosic and charming piece of theatre for the whole family, and show everyone around them the true community spirit and artistry that lives in this space that can otherwise be mistaken as aggressive, intimidating or rowdy.
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As the audience was led through the two skate spaces and the calming volunteer-kept garden and vegetable patch (that many locals didn't realise existed), they heard Shakespearean verse delivered expertly, music performed skilfully and delicately, and - of course - mad skate tricks pulled off with unreal DIY style.
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A number of our cast had barely seen any theatre before, let alone Shakespeare, and a great many had not done any acting since primary school. Many of them - as in most skateboarding communities - felt excluded from mainstream arts and vilified by society around them: we were honoured to be visited by the Ben Raemers Foundation for two workshops on mental health and wellbeing, to help them through their doubts, insecurities and other emotional barriers along the way. We were so proud to see them find confidence in their skills and creativity, clarity in how to put them to use in public-facing ways, and determination to pursue their talents within and beyond their turf.
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DIY skate spaces are transient, and we have no idea how long this one will be here - but the community that has come to feel like a family around it is galvanising support and making incredible strides in their efforts to save it. Whatever happens, the space, the people and the show will be an ongoing memory of what can be achieved when passionate but excluded artists are trusted, and trust each other, to show just how vast the contribution they can make to the cultural landscape around them is.
Words From The Cast And Crew
"I really loved the mix of silliness and seriousness, the room to play and explore and mess around. I loved the excercises to get us into our bodies/voices/roles. I enjoyed doing something for a group, for the collective feeling even if I wasn't feeling it myself. I really enjoyed being in a group of people who I didnt know and all we had was that we each wanted to be doing this thing. I just want to make more stuff with people, to find unexpected things together and invite people to share in it. To celebrate the wonderful people and their talents who are at the Grove and who came together in such incredible ways for this project."
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"I really enjoyed working together with everyone and the process felt so generative and co-creative and non-hierarchical, which I loved."
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"I feel more confident in my own abilities as an artist. I know I can step out of my comfort zone and do well and enjoy myself meanwhile."
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"I feel like this project has showed me different types of ways of making theatre - particularly theatre that is community and people focused. I’ve also met a lot of people with different skills and learn about possibilities of creating your own work."
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"The weekend of the performances I remember feeling more genuinely happy in a way that I hadn’t felt for years."
Photography by Alastair Gleeson
Words From The Audiences
"Shakespeare is smiling. We attended the performance on Sunday evening - it was joyous! Wonderfully inventive interpretation, superb performances and a unique and special location. May there be many more events like it!"
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"It was fantastic. Well done to everyone involved."
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"Awesome use of this great space!"
