JOURNEY EXCHANGE
Journey Exchange was a participatory theatre project that explored stories of travel, including journeys that people might have made in the past and those they hope to make in the future. It took place in Burnham and Highbridge, two small coastal towns in the predominantly rural county of Somerset, UK.
A key partner in the project was Seed, an Arts Council funded project that offers communities free arts and culture opportunities.
Despite the many Covid-related challenges of creating a community development project, throughout September 2021, a workshop programme enabled older people at the Morland Hall lunch club to meet and tell their stories. These were recorded and used by another community group as verbatim techniques (a form of documentary theatre which is based on the spoken words of real people) to inspire and generate outdoor physical work using aerial silks. Through this activity, everyone who took part learnt new skills and gained confidence in sharing their stories.
The project culminated in everybody coming together in the first weekend of October to create a free outdoor performance at the Morland Community Hub in Highbridge. Audiences enjoyed performances from local community groups, Bollywood dancing, children and young people from the local youth theatres, our RIOTE3 partners and Pirates of the Carabina’s touring circus show, Pirate Taxi.
To see the immages (photos by Len Copland) of the community development please visit this link.
Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=takeart&set=a.1773015806227724
https://www.facebook.com/events/569276304266319/
Press coverage:
riote.org 