The Wearing of Water

Before there were people, before there was place; there was the weather.

Delivered in early 2020, The Wearing of Water was a community performance project that explored the relationship between people and place in Teesdale through a process of modern myth making.

Musician Jack Burton walks up hill, collecting field recordings in Upper Teesdale
A first draft of our lighting plan during artist R&D sessions.
Dramaturg Ed Cole deep in thought during artist R&D sessions.
Technical improvisation and performance during R&D.
Participants create a collaborative map of Teesdale, marking sites of personal significance and the routes they travel between them.
A song writing session with musician Jack Burton.
A lone figure walking towards the top of Goldsbrough in Upper Teesdale.
A panoramic view from the top of Goldsbrough in Upper Teesdale.
Participants mid-workshop during our first weekend of creation.
Together, participants guide each other through the collaborative map.
A script writing session during the second weekend of workshops.
Members of Turrets Youth Theatre on stage during the technical run through of the final performance.
Final notes from the facilitator team before the first public performance.
The view from the tech desk during rehearsals.
Figures lost in the flood during rehearsals.
The cast and crew gathered together at the end of the project, after 2 performances and plenty of drama.

Funded by Northern Heartlands, a team of professional artists and theatre makers initiated the project with a series of R&D days, creating a digital score and narrative scope for the project; before working intensively over a series of 3 weekends with local residents and members of Turrets Youth Theatre in a process of action research, to devise a 45 minute theatre production.

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