GDIF 2024 | London’s free, annual outdoor performing arts festival 23 August-8 September 2024
Bodies of Water
27 - 31 August | Various Times| Ahoy Centre, Borthwick Street, SE8 3JY
Duration: 40 Minutes
This Event Has Passed.
“No one leaves home… Unless home is the mouth of a shark”
Sharing the stories of those who have travelled across land and water to seek refuge, the things we think we know and the things we’re told to believe… Opening our hearts and minds to listen, to really listen.
Staged on the banks of the Thames, this theatrical experience mixes the soul-stirring poetry of Warsan Shire (Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Black is King) with live performance directed by Olivier-winning director Matthew Xia, dramaturgy by Francesca Beard (Post-Truth Apocalypse) and live music by Britain’s most celebrated Oud player Rihab Azar.
Devised with arts and community partners from across South East London, Bodies of Water marks the fourth collaboration between Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and Actors Touring Company following the critically acclaimed sell-out production of The Architect (2023), Family Tree (2021) and 846 Live (2020).
Book Tickets: Here.
Please note free tickets are available for Royal Borough of Greenwich Residents.
Performances:
Tuesday 27 August| 2 pm | Ahoy Centre, Borthwick Street, Deptford, SE8 RJY
Wednesday 28 August | 3 pm | Ahoy Centre, Borthwick Street, Deptford, SE8 RJY
Thursday 29 August | 4.30 pm | Ahoy Centre, Borthwick Street, Deptford, SE8 RJY
Friday 30 August | 5 pm + 6.30 pm | Ahoy Centre, Borthwick Street, Deptford, SE8 RJY
Saturday 31 August | 5.45 pm + 7 pm | Ahoy Centre, Borthwick Street, Deptford, SE8 RJY
We advise parents to bring a sling with them, as bringing a pram/buggies onto the shore may be difficult.
Bodies of Water is supported by Royal Borough of Greenwich , Royal Greenwich Festival , Arts Council England , Festival.org , Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation and Wates Foundation. With thanks to The Ahoy Centre.
Watch Bodies of Water at GDIF 2024
Actors Touring Company
ATC are committed to producing international plays; and to touring the work of those global voices throughout the UK (and beyond).
Matthew Xia, one of British theatre’s most exciting talents, has been Artistic Director for ACT since 2019. Matthew brings with him fresh thinking about the global identities within contemporary British society. Matthew’s work explores voices from the cultures that make up our globe and our nation – and the ways in which they intersect.
More information
Performed on the banks of the Thames as the tide comes in, Actors Touring Company’s Bodies of Water is based on Warsan Shire’s (Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Black is King ) poem Home, co-created with local sanctuary seeking people and directed by Oliver-winning director Matthew Xia.
Promotional photography will take place at this event.
If you do not wish to be featured in our content, please ask one of our volunteers (easily noticeable, in their pink t-shirts) for a no photography sticker.
Site Access
Booking required.
Assistance Dogs Welcome.
Level Access
There is a slope down from the Ahoy Centre to the beach. Further info will be provided when booking is available.
Access Viewing Areas
An access viewing area for disabled audience members will be marked with a sign or flag. Space for wheelchair users, companions and seating with and without arms will be available.
Accessible Toilets
In the Ahoy Centre
The nearest Changing Places toilet 0.6 miles from the Ahoy Centre in Deptford Lounge, it closes 7pm Monday-Friday and 5pm Saturday. Please bring a sling to use the hoist.
Blue badge parking
Borthwick St, London SE8 3JY
Drop-off point
Borthwick St, London SE8 3JY
Contact
For Access questions, contact [email protected] // 07899 893 935
For other audience questions, contact our Box Office: [email protected]
Show Access
BSL Interpretation on Tuesday 27 & Saturday 31 Aug
Live AD 7pm Saturday 31 Aug
Easy-read Visual Guide and Aftercare Pack -coming soon.
Content Information: Bodies of Water contains themes of migration, displacement and the challenges faced by refugees.
Please consider suitability for anyone under 16.
For specific content information please email [email protected]
Where to find it
The Photo Route from Cutty Sark DLR
For exact location please click on ///verge.stars.assume
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