This summer, Without Walls are set to bring Covid-safe outdoor performances to audiences across the UK with their main focus on areas most affected by the pandemic.
They say that Covid restrictions, along with financial and social uncertainty, have made accessing live performances difficult for many over the past 14 months.
With indoor theatres still being unable to perform with full capacity, Without Walls say their performances can “revitalise our cultural experiences whilst supporting the creative industry.”
Their new touring program will include 37 productions in towns, cities and rural areas around the UK in hopes of “[enabling] audiences to reconnect with culture and their communities.”
They added that these productions will “mirror our rapidly changing society in a powerful yet entertaining way.”
Some of their performances include In Memoriam, a memorial of flags crafted from bed sheets and displayed as a medical logo in memory of those who have lost their lives to Covid, and as a tribute to front-line workers who have risked theirs over the past year.
Another performance, The Tide, inspired by the Windrush Scandal, shines a spotlight on “the challenges that immigrants face” in “asserting their rights as residents and citizens,” whilst Urban Astronaut provides a “glimpse into the future when air pollution has reached its crisis point.” They hope their use of “stunning aerial choreography” will bring the topic of the climate crisis to the forefront of conversation.
Without Walls is a consortium of over 30 festivals and arts organisations that aims to bring outdoor arts to communities across the country, and has done since 2007. They are supported by Arts Council England who hope that by 2030, England will be a country where creativity will be valued and “given the chance to flourish.”
The full list of outdoor performances can be found here.
Words by Tom Charlesworth.
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