Without Walls have announced their 2022 programme, filled with work from some of the UK’s
most highly regarded outdoor arts and performance specialists. With advances in outdoor arts
every year, the programme highlights and brings together some of the most exciting new
companies and street artists making vital work for the public space. As we move out of the
Covid-19 pandemic, the group of organisations forming Without Walls continues to enforce the
importance of this artform in restoring audience confidence and breaking boundaries.
This year’s programme explores themes of digital art, nature, mental health and wellbeing,
climate change, black excellence, family and community. The programme includes a towering
interactive installation of gentle giants made from fabric and air in Unfurl. Representing a
garden, the piece made by roboticist designers and software engineers at Air Giants is suitable
for all ages and celebrates the wonder as well as the intelligence of nature. Flood is an
interactive piece from Theatre Témoin, fully BSL integrated and using dynamic movement and
acrobatics. Inspired by an imaginary conversation between the UK coastal communities and the
world’s oceans as both are feeling ‘seasick’, it has been created from hours of conversations
with communities across the UK.
Fuel and Common Wealth have come together to form the site-specific theatre piece
Peaceophobia. Staged in a car park, featuring modified cars, cinematic lighting and an electronic
sound score, the piece is an unapologetic response to rising Islamophobia around the world.
Growing up in the shadow of the Bradford Riots, 9/11 and police harassment, cars and faith are
a sanctuary, an escape, an expression for three Muslim Pakistani men.
Jo Burns, Chair of Without Walls, comments: Without Walls is delighted that this year’s
programme of commissions is drawn from some of the most innovative and exciting companies
working in the UK. The range of themes speaks to the strange and difficult times we are living
through as well as to the joy of once again sharing glorious times in the streets and spaces of
towns and cities across the nation.
Dance, circus and physical theatre is seen throughout the programme. Avant Garde Dance will
present Scrum, which weaves together the company’s trademark synthesis of hip-hop and
contemporary dance with a captivating original soundtrack. The piece will animate a rebellious
rabble of young digital natives in protest against global freedom of creative expression. With VR
headsets, Scrum uniquely overlaps live performance with virtual reality. SAY celebrates the joy
and innocence of making up dances in interactive, outdoor dance show The Album: Skool
Edition. Collaborating with music artists, SAY’s infectious energy combines dynamic
contemporary styles to create a slick and playful performance. From Joli Vyan, Timeless is about
the passing of time and fear. Taking place on a 7 metre high rotating hourglass, it is a daredevil
yet poignantly sensitive representation of the ambiguous nature of time and the threat of
irreversibility of climate change. Collectif and then… will mount No Man’s Land, a circus
performance which will immerse audiences and highlight the borders we create as a
community. There Should be Unicorns from Middle Child will present a brand-new hip-hop
musical for families. Theatre, dance and hip hop collide and reimagine what theatre can be.
Meanwhile, The Clay Connection will present Lives of Clay from Vidya Thirunarayan, which
combines her expertise in Bharata Natyam dance with her skill as a potter in a unique theatrical
event. Through dancing with clay while throwing pots on stage she has found a new way to tell
stories rich with drama and emotion.
Sometimes outdoor installations invite us to reconnect with our surroundings. FeelPlay from
acclaimed performer Christopher Green will invite an adult-only audience to rediscover play in a
playground especially made for grown-ups, asking them to take a joyful look at their mental
health. Matthew Harrison’s Community Chest is a participatory interactive art installation that
aims to bring people together through cooperative treasure hunting and puzzle-solving
challenges whilst testing communication skills and encouraging neighbourliness.
Street Theatre continues to allow a larger audience to engage with Outdoor Arts. Strollers will
provide a group of six global majority disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent artists from DaDa and
Black Gold Arts to lead audiences on a stroll collecting stories. Culminating in a massive
performance party, Strollers provides an accessible, inclusive and entertaining event that
encourages audiences to take part and join in. Daryl Beeton Productions and Mimbre come
together for Look Mum, No Hands! – a tender story about friendship and growing up. Using a
combination of theatre, movement and acrobatics, the performance will highlight one of the
characters use of a wheelchair as a creative advantage, creating new acrobatic shapes and
choreographies.
With their trademark distinctive mix of drag, live music and interactive games, Fatt Projects’
new project Big Gay Disco Bike will transform public spaces. Audiences can expect glitter,
confetti, power ballads, and explosions of queer joy as the company gets communities up on
their feet. Eau de Memoire from Francesca Baglione, Miss High Leg Kick, uses fragrances to
represent memories of a place and a moment. Audiences will experience the unique scent of
the Funfair 1978, Leisure Centre 1992, Squat Party 2002 and more, in a journey for noses! Tara
Theatre will mount Final Farewell, an audio walk experience that offers a moment of
contemplation and collaboration. Sudha Bhuchar has based the show on the experiences of loss
during the pandemic for people local to Wandsworth.
Without Walls leads excellence in outdoor arts and annually invests commissioning funds into a
programme of new outdoor shows that go on and tour across the UK and internationally. This
process ensures an influx of new shows for the outdoor arts sector and helps nurture the talent
and skills of those working in the sector. These works range from the intimate to the epic,
aiming to create high-quality arts experiences accessible to all regardless of personal, social or
economic circumstances. With the arts sector still struggling to recover from the Covid-19
pandemic, Outdoor Arts remains paramount in restoring audience confidence in attending live
events.
READ MORE ABOUT WITHOUT WALLS 2022
