WildWorks and Battersea Arts Centre

In collaboration with Lyric Hammersmith, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Young Vic

Venue: A major London landmark to be revealed in early 2012

08 May – 20 May 2012

Promising to be one the most talked about events of 2012, BABEL will be a theatrical experience of truly epic proportions.

A spectacular outdoor show created for an major London setting, BABEL is staged through a unique partnership between WildWorks and Battersea Arts Centre and will feature a cast of 500 community and professional actors and musicians.

We are currently bringing together people and community groups that have not worked together before from different parts of London to work together, learn their stories and develop ideas and ways of working that will inspire the creation of the final show.

In September our focus was to explore building a city – what are the skills people could bring, how is a modern city defined, governed and sustained? How can various communities come together and welcome other communities? After a 9-day workshop, WildWorks led the 56 participants into building their own tower working with the Dutch artist, Antoon Versteedge at Battersea Park. After building the Tower, members of the public were invited to experience the tower through animation activities the participants had created; ai wall of memories, an area of storytelling, a craft making area, culminating in a musical exploration.

The footage can be seen here:

In October WildWorks then worked with 25 young people from West and South London [ages ranged from 13 – 25], using the Tale of Solomon Grundy as a stimulus, the young people explored what life would be like if condensed into a week, a day, an hour. Their end of week presentation, BABEL: A 60minute Life, was performed to an audience of over 100 in BAC’s Grand Hall.

Half term stills

Footage by John Lynch and Steve Tanner