Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF) today launches its full programme, showcasing world-class theatre, art installations, spectacle and dance in locations across London. More than 35 events, including two world premieres and 14 UK premieres, are inspired by the theme Acts of Hope, inviting Londoners to come together for uplifting moments of shared wonder and connection.
French high-wire walker Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga opens GDIF 2023 on Friday 25 August with OPEN LINES, a heart-stopping tight-rope walk above Woolwich. She will be supported by 12 local people who will hold and help suspend the ropes on which this performance takes place in a breathtaking act of participation at the launch of this year’s festival, enshrining this year’s theme of Acts of Hope. This spectacular opening production from the French company Basinga, is part of Woolwich Lates which is supported by Berkley Group, the Mayor of London’s Night Time Enterprise Zone and Night Czar Amy Lamé.
Through live music, movement and protest-theatre WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM! reveals the colour, warmth and vitality of Iranian culture, for which a courageous young generation are currently fighting. Unearthing the extraordinary music and voices of women, who, in Iran, cannot be heard freely, this newly commissioned production shines a light on the rich and celebratory culture and the right to express it, that women in Iran are fighting, since the death of Mahsa Amini almost a year ago. Presented by Ameena Hamid and directed by an Iranian artist who wishes to remain anonymous, this stirring and joyful event invites audiences to express solidarity with the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, in Stratford Park.
In a weekend of events from international companies that respond to the climate crisis on either side of the Thames, CYGNUS, a ballet performed by life-sized, multi-coloured animatronic swans on the Royal Victoria Dock, is joined by fellow Dutch dance theatre company Vloeistof’s SLIDING SLOPE, an urgent response to climate change and rising water levels which takes place on the roof of a full-sized, submerged house. Both events are presented as part of At the Docks a brand new season of arts, culture and events. Over at Greenwich Peninsula, acclaimed French specialists in spectacle, Gratte Ciel present ROZÉO, a poetic performance-installation on ten-metre-high sway poles evoking the wonder of the natural world.
Dates and booking details have been revealed for THE ARCHITECT, a previously announced, life-affirming theatrical journey on a double-decker bus, conceived by Actors Touring Company Artistic Director Matthew Xia, with writers Roy Williams and Mojisola Adebayo. This immersive experience, in which audiences travel across South-East London on a double decker bus, is infused with the experiences of Black Londoners across the three decades since the murder of Stephen Lawrence and is created with the support of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation.
Festival favorites GREENWICH FAIR, a family-friendly day of street theatre and circus transforming Greenwich Town Centre, and DANCING CITY, a weekend of outdoor contemporary dance across the public spaces of the Canary Wharf estate, return for 2023 with bigger programmes than ever before. At Canary Wharf, the UK premiere of PAN~//CATWALK from Dutch company Zwermers, fuses fashion and choreography with a never-ending sequence of synchronized costume changes in a mind-opening celebration of fluidity and self-expression.
At Greenwich Park, as an extended addition of GDIF’s GREENWICH FAIR, leading disabled theatre maker Julie McNamara presents a specially commissioned immersive production A WOVEN WAKE FOR MIDSUMMER, framed by installation artist, Oliver McDonald’s artwork/arena, THIS WOVEN O, created entirely from willow. Stopgap and Chris Pavia’s promenade dance theatre piece connecting to the natural world ECHOES WITHIN THE EARTH and Caroline Cardus’ provocative road sign installation THE WAY AHEAD are among many events created by disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent artists for this year’s programme, and underly GDIF’s ongoing commitment to access and its recent recognition as the only UK festival to be awarded a Platinum Accessibility Standard by Attitude is Everything.
In addition to the full programme launched today, one final surprise spectacular, an exciting co-production, to be staged in an iconic location, will be revealed next month. Announcement to follow shortly.
Bradley Hemmings MBE, GDIF Artistic Director says: “This year GDIF takes place against a background of tough times. In response we’ve adopted the theme “Acts of Hope”, to address a real need for uplifting moments of celebration, reflection and togetherness. As an outdoor festival, architecture, the built environment, parks and public open spaces always provide us with powerfully resonant settings for inclusive storytelling. In 2023 that feels more apparent than ever. In General Gordon Square, Stratford Park, the Royal Docks, as well as, painfully, the Well Hall Road, as we remember Stephen Lawrence, I hope that this year’s festival, might help us to imagine how together we can be architects of more hopeful futures”.
