‘Do you know what would be fun?’ says Caroline after the success of Roots in 2009, ‘Why don’t we try and tour the show next year.’ ‘Ummm, great idea’ says Claire, ‘But it’s a site specific show – how do we tour it and retain the spirit of the show?’
Thus began the mammoth task that was Roots Replanted 2010. 15 months later, we are delighted to have successfully pioneered a new low-carbon touring practise for site-adaptable theatre, received enthusiastic press and audience reviews, taken our unique brand of playful and thought-provoking performances to a record breaking number of audience members and told some provocative and heart-warming stories along the way.
So, how did we do it? It was really important to us that, though the core story of Roots from 2009 was retained, a huge amount of new material should be found at each new site to help make the show truly site specific and embedded in the community. We ran free tea parties at each of the four tour locations and invited local people to share stories about the area, tell us about their relationship with food and their thoughts of the future. These thoughts were then woven into our play through the characters. Four locations, four scripts to learn!
We’re recently made a film that will tell you more about how Kilter makes work – go here to see it.
Roots Replanted in numbers:
- 329 audience members over 18 shows
- A whopping 65% of you walked, biked or took the train or bus to come and see us! Well done you.
- 81% of our audiences had never seen a show before, but 64% said they were ‘very likely’ to see another Kilter show
Some of our favourite bits of feedback:
“Autumn doesn’t get any better than a Kilter production!”
“Roots Replanted ranks up there in my top 3 theatre experiences of my life. Truly creative, thought provoking.”“Spell binding performances and magical surroundings. Extremely moving play which made me think about my own actions/eating habits/consumption/future/ past throughout. Fantastically clever, witty and touching scripts which wound past, present and future together seamlessly.”
“A magical, inspiring and empowering production – thank you. Exactly what we need in this world.”
“Thank you all so much for sharing such brave, inspiring, thoughtful, imaginative [work]…. LOVED it – perfect way of spending an evening in Bath. Brilliant theatre – so inventive, inspiring, challenging and how it should be.”
“I felt inspired to be part of creating a sustainable future”
“Loved it! Quirky, heartfelt, informational, immersive, life enhancing performance and experience.”
“I haven’t smiled so hard at any performance EVER – original, funny, sustainable, beautifully set, thought provoking. Thank you.”
Thank you to all of you who came and gave us feedback. We want to send a special huge thank you to those who attended the tea parties – you welcomed us into your communities, filled our heads with wonderful tales and are part of the wider Kilter team that makes what we do so special.
Read the New Statesman review here.
Read the Venue Magazine review here.