PERFORMANCE

What’s the Spirit of Dewsbury?
Encounters’ Shop in Dewsbury June 2010



In June 2010, Encounters’ Ruth Ben-Tovim directed a performance of What’s the Spirit of Dewsbury? at the culmination of our residency in the Encounters’ Shop in Dewsbury. This verbatim performance of some of the past reflections, present feelings, and future aspirations gathered from almost 4,000 people of Dewsbury during our residency in the shop were brought to life by two Dewsbury performers.

Six performances of What’s the Spirit of Dewsbury? were presented to Kirklees service providers, shop visitors and other stakeholders, either on its own or as part of wider presentations on public engagement, regeneration of the town centre and place-making.

Images of An Evening with Encounters, at the Encounters Shop on 9th June 2010, comprising a performance of What’s the Spirit of Dewsbury?, a presentation of Encounters’ findings and insights from our residency at the shop, a presentation on place-making by international place-making researcher Phil Wood, and a facilitated dialogue between audience members around perceptions, identity and difference:





Photography: Richard Brown

A Little Patch of Ground
Liverpool 2009



A Little Patch of Ground was a performance and growing project that brought together a new intergenerational group of residents age 6–84 from across the four corners of Liverpool, to create a unique performance that explored, unearthed and told stories of the relationships people develop with each other, with where they live and with the wider natural world around them.

Samples of soil, plant life and edible produce as well as samples of personal stories, images, ideas, and experiences were cross fertilised during the project that ran from May-July 09, key growing months in the natural calendar. We used photography and film, writing and drama, collecting, cooking and planting during the project.

The performance, premiered at the Bluecoat, served up and shared in full bloom the new varieties and combinations that emerged from the interaction between this unique gathering of people, where they live and the wider natural world around them.

View images of A Little Patch of Ground

Be My Guest
Liverpool 2008

Be my Guest logo

Be My Guest formed part of the Four Corners Exhibition, a citywide creative neighbourhood’s project supported by Liverpool Capital of Culture at the Bluecoat Art Gallery in Liverpool. The project resulted in a performance which told the story of groups of residents from across South Liverpool who volunteered to become Be My Guest Hosts, organising unique community events in their homes, social clubs, or community centres. Hosts gathered friends, family and neighbours together to witness an intimate multi–media performance of stories and imagery collected from and inspired by the people of South Liverpool. As well as taking place in the Hosts chosen venues, performances were held in the Bluecoat Arts Centre in Liverpool. The performance, directed by Ruth Ben-Tovim, featured actor Paul Duckworth and audio visuals by artist Sam Meech and was divided into six sections each based on a different universal theme of everyday life; place, hurt, love, home, how it used to be, celebration.

View images of the Be My Guest performance

Sharrow Stories
Sheffield Studio
Thurs 14 - Sat 16 June 2007

Sharrow Stories performance Sharrow Stories Cast and Crew

Following their residency in the Crucible shop, Encounters returned with Sharrow Stories, a unique one-off interactive performance event that brought together Sharrow residents of all ages, four professional performers and a team of young people who acted as guides.

From 2003-2005 Encounters took over three disused shops in the diverse neighbourhood of Sharrow, Sheffield, opening the shop to
Visitors. The performance event was inspired by the hundreds of stories, memories, journeys, objects and images which visitors left in the shops. With the seats taken out of the Studio, the audience were invited to move around the space, witnessing events and making decisions about what stories they wanted to hear.

Click here to see images of the performance.


‘Encounters take art directly into the public so that ‘the public’ becomes all aspects of the work, providing content, direction and audience simultaneously’ G Robertson, Art Historian, Humbolt State University, USA

‘An outstanding demonstration of the force of ordinary things, which is so easy to say but so hard to make vivid and convincing’ Emily Campbell: Curator British Pavilion, X Venice Biennale of Architecture (the shop collections were part of Echo/City in the 2006 British exhibition)

‘Encounters let the flow of material come from the local tap and changed the landscape’ A Deadman, Sharrow Festival

Click here to find out more about the shop projects in general, and here for information about the residency at the Crucible Theatre.