Roots Replanted. September 2010
BOOK NOW - 01225 386777
After the success of Roots in 2009, The University of Bath's ICIA (Institute for Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts) has once again commissioned Kilter Theatre to pioneer at the cutting edge of sustainable theatre practise. This September Kilter will embark on a low-carbon tour, adapting last year's runaway success for four new allotment sites in Bristol, Bath and beyond in September 2010.
Roots Replanted's playful and engaging characters guide audiences on a gentle promenade journey down the bean-rows to investigate food-security in the fast approaching post-oil world. In 2009, participants, aged 8 to 80, followed the action, planting seedlings and eating nettle soup. According to the Metro review (*****) it was "theatre at point blank range".
As usual we'll be using recycled props, sets and costumes and all performances will take place in the open air. Some scenes will shelter in our trademark shed, created entirely from recycled materials found on each site.
Even elements of the script will be found on site as Kilter will host a series of public sessions for people to contribute anecdotal reminiscences about their local site. It's invaluable to Kilter that the community get involved. The shed will be a focus point, with work from a local artist exhibited during performance weeks to encourage day-time visitors.
We're very excited to be reciving Grants for the Arts and Quartet Community Foundation funding to put on the show.
Tickets are priced at £9 (Concessions £7) and are on sale from ICIA's Box Office 01225 386777
Tour dates:
Performance Times for all sites: Thurs to Sat at 7.30pm, Sat & Sun at 2.30pm
2 - 5 Sept
St Werburgh's City Farm, Boiling Wells, Bristol BS2 9YJ
9 - 12 Sept
Hampton Row Allotments, Bathwick, Bath BA2 6QS
16 - 19 Sept
Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill BA2 8PJ
23 - 26 Sept
Bloomfield Allotments, Bear Flat, Bath BA2 2AB
Advance booking advisable via ICIA Box Office 01225 386777
Ideal for all ages from 12 upwards.
Get involved:
Kilter are inviting local people to share their history and interest in food by joining us at an open meeting at each allotment site during the rehearsal period. All welcome.
Tues 27 July, 7pm
St Werburgh's City Farm, Boiling Wells, Bristol
Sun 8 Aug, 2pm
Hampton Row Allotments, Bath
Tues 17 Aug, 7pm
Peasedown St John Community Farm
Tues 24 Aug, 7pm
Bloomfield Allotments, Bath
Kilter Theatre Workshops:
Kilter will also be running free theatre workshops after the Roots Replanted tour. We're offering 25 places to those who want to find out about Kilter's process. It is open to all - the only requirement is to know our work. Book via ICIA, various dates
Details from Roots 2009 last year's show:
Roots finished a sell out run in June 2009 at the Bath Organic Group Allotments, Victoria Park, Bath.
***** 5 stars - Metro
"Highly recommended, a breathtaking piece of site-specific theatre" - Bath Chronicle
See below for full reviews and read our audience feedback (and get the recipe for nettle soup) on our forum page.
Reviews
Bath Chronicle:
It is rare to find a piece of live entertainment that is completely unique, but Kilter's breathtaking piece of site-specific theatre is refreshingly original and a real slice of bohemian magic.
As we were shepherded through the Victoria Park allotments, it felt as though we were somehow transported to Glastonbury festival; there was more flower power that just in the gardens around us.
It would be very difficult to give a synopsis of the play, or even of a time period in which it took place - it seemed as though the play was set in the past and the future at the same time - but this didn't matter a jot as we were taken on a trip through growing food security issues, amidst the backdrop of a blossoming romance.
The surrealist sketches and huge array of puns - the title might have been Routes as opposed to Roots - were seamlessly delivered as the superbly crafted characters were delightfully portrayed by Kilter's three lead actors - Oliver Langdon, Caroline Garland and Claire Wyatt.
From the moment the experience began, we felt like Alice, falling down the rabbit hole, as we planted flowers, dug up maps and ate delicious nettle soup in a Hansel and Gretel house made almost entirely from junk found in the area.
This was such an intimate and organic piece of contemporary art that the audience left the allotments with an experience that will last long after the trees have shed their leaves. Highly recommended.
Metro *****:
This 'tale of love and vegetables' is a guided sunset walk around an allotment in the company of five characters. Meet 1940s widow Beatrice Freed (Claire Wyatt), her great-great granddaughter Robin Freed (Caroline Garland) who lives in the 2050s, their respective love interests, and a time-travelling radio DJ who acts as a conduit between the two eras (all played by Oliver Langdon). Beatrice tells us she is longing for emancipation from endless cooking; Robin pines for the olden days. Through scenes that take place up trees, around ponds and over raised beds, we learn how the early embracing of convenience food led indirectly to global problems, while in the 2050s they are tacking a post food-riot future.
But Roots is more than a lecture on sustainability - such close proximity to the actors creates an intimacy as the play's message is delivered at point-blank range.