Greenwich + Docklands International Festival: Our picks of what to see

The south London arts festival is back with a bang in its 27th year
Elizabeth Gregory23 August 2022

This weekend, the 27th Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (GDIF) begins: a 17-day festival taking place across east and south-east London, with more than 80,000 people expected to attend.

The theme for this year’s free outdoor arts and theatre programme is ‘Common Ground’. There’ll be presentations from British and international artists, digital works and “promenade experiences’”

The UK premiere of Dutch innovator Daan Roosegaarde’s Spark – where thousands of biodegradable light sparks float through the air creating an inspiring light show – will open the festival on Friday night and then return on Saturday.

Artistic director Bradley Hemmings said: “As we emerge from the pandemic, with growing economic challenges at home and terrifying events on our doorstep in Europe, I hope that this year’s festival will offer audiences a moment of sanctuary from the anxious times that we’ve been living through.

“It’s heartening that many of the incredible artists we’re working with this year are using the outdoors to offer us a glimpse of collective possibility and purpose.”

Here’s our round-up of some of the events not to miss at GDIF.

SPARK: © Studio Roosegaarde

Family-friendly

Although most of GDIF’s events are open to everyone, there are three events on the packed schedule that are specifically family-friendly.

First, there’s the Greenwich Fair, which will take place on August 27 and 28 at the Old Royal Naval College and Cutty Sark Gardens. It will include street art, dance performances and circus acts. Performances will include Daryl Beeton and Mimbre’s Look Mum, No Hands!; Black Victorians by choreographerJeanefer Jean-Charles and Eau De Memoire, a ‘perfumance’ exploring smell and memory from Francesca Baglione.

Then, there’s On Your Doorstep, which starts on August 28 and with seven pop-up street art events taking place across Greenwich and south London including Royal Docks, Canning Town, Bethnal Green, Avery Hill, Thamesmead, Abbey Wood, Deptford and Plumstead. The series will present work from artists including Scrum, Out The Deep Blue and B.V.Natuur.

Thirdly there’s Dancing City in Canary Wharf’s public space. Spectators can see work from a wide range of UK and international companies including Compagnie Yann L’heureux, Malick Bright, Joe Garbett, SAY, Motionhouse, James Wilton Dance, Royal Ballet, Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie, New Adventures and Pagrav Dance.

Highlights of Dancing City this year include the works of Spanish company Cia Maduixa, who will use stilts to tell the story of female migrants in the UK premiere of their show Migrare.

Find out more details about these family-friendly events here.

Look Mum No Hands: © Rachel Hardwick

Immersive experiences

There will also be half a dozen immersive experiences for attendees to enjoy. These include:

In Island of Foam: Version XVIII German artist Stephanie Lüning will cover the Greenwich Peninsula in environmentally friendly multi-coloured foam. Audiences are invited to watch Lüning create the installation live.

Island of Foam: Version XVIII, September 3-4, 6pm

The Sky Is Filled with Thunder will take place in a playground in Thamesmead at dusk. Audiences will be given headphones to listen to the multi-layered audio artwork which features the voices of children from the local area and explores themes including home, migration, family history, hope and anger.

The Sky Is Filled With Thunder, August 27-28, 8pm

Follow Me is an hour-long performance where Parkour acrobats navigate the Moorings Estate in Thamesmead. This interactive exploration will also invite audiences to take part in a small capacity.

Follow Me, August 28-29, 3pm

Peter Hudson’s 32ft high zoetrope Charon was originally created for the Burning Man festival and will now be reassembled on this side of the pond at Limmo Peninsula, Royal Docks. Over the two-and-a-half-hour performance, the cylinder will rotate alongside a dramatic light and sound show which is based on the ferryman from the Greek myths who row the boats of the dead across the river Styx.

Charon, September 1-10, 8pm

A world premiere, This Woven O is a series of spoken word, movement, and interactions alongside soundscapes that will take place in a woven willow setting created by disabled artist Oliver Macdonald.

Taking place at the Royal Arsenal Woolwich’s Dial Arch Square, Graeae, the UK’s leading disabled-led theatre company, has commissioned a series of accessible theatre and storytelling works. “Audiences will have the opportunity to move in a moon dance, touch butterfly wings and listen to wild secrets from the earth,” says GDIF.

This Woven O, September 2-4, 1 pm, 3.30 pm & 6.30pm

Migrare © juangabrielsanz

Immersive Promenade Theatre

But that’s not all – there is also promenade theatre to look forward to. This includes:

Geophonic is a 60-minute folk ritual that brings together geology, sci-fi and rave culture to translate ideas about the natural world – and more specifically about rocks – to audiences.

Geophonic, September 3-4, 1 pm and 3.30pm

En Route To Common Ground is what GDIF is calling a “cinematic dance Odyssey”: over approximately three hours, dancers and musicians will parade from Woolwich Common and move down to the Royal Arsenal, storytelling and performing alongside music specially composed by Helen Chadwick, Matteo Fargion, Orlando Gough and Andy Pink and choreography from Luca Silvestrini’s dance theatre company Protein.

En Route To Common Ground, September 2-3 at 5 pm, September 4 at 2.30pm

As the name suggests, Final Farewell concludes the festival. Presented by Tara Theatre, this promenade performance is made up of four audio stories that have been created by writer Sudha Bhuchar using real accounts and memories of people lost during the pandemic. Audiences will use a guided map to walk around the Isle of Dogs, listening to different voices.

(Attendees are asked to use their phones and headphones, though there will be some Mp3 players provided on a first come, first served basis.)

Final Farewell, September 10-11, 12 pm, 1.30 pm, 3 pm & 4.30pm

Special Mention

This audio-visual event is from Kyiv-based photographer Yevgen Nikiforov, alongside other Ukrainian creatives, with the support of the Ukrainian Institute. A total of 56 huge mosaics will be projected across the outside of the Old Royal Naval College by Greenwich Park over four nights.

Discover Ukraine: Bits Destroyed, August 26-29, 8.30 pm, 9:00 pm & 10:00pm

The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival will run from 26 August – 11 September 2022. Find out more about GDIF’s entire schedule of upcoming events, plus dates and tickets here

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