- Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF) 2024 returns to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Newham and the City of London from Friday 23 August to Sunday 8 September.
- The 17-day programme of theatre, circus, dance and performance art is inspired by the theme ALL CHANGE; celebrating change-making activism and artistic innovation whilst reflecting global and local stories of transformation.
- Created by Australian physical performance company Legs On The Wall in response to the devastation of the 2019/20 bushfires, THAW is an 8-hour aerial performance on a suspended 2.5 tonne block of ice making its European premiere at the University of East London’s Docklands campus in Newham.
- Experienced on the banks of the Thames as the tide comes in, Actors Touring Company’s BODIES OF WATER is based on Warsan Shire’s poem HOME, co-created with local sanctuary seeking people and directed by Olivier-winning director Matthew Xia.
- Internationally renowned phenomenon Yoann Bourgeois’ gravity defying creation TOUCH makes its UK premiere at Dancing City, GDIF’s annual outdoor dance festival, which this year moves to Newham in partnership with Sadler’s Wells East, with performances spanning Stratford Cross, East Bank and on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
- PATOIS by world-renowned choreographer Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE is a new GDIF dance commission, and tells a universal story of lost languages, longing and belonging in Woolwich, Abbey Wood, Greenwich and Stratford.
- PRAM PEOPLE by Australian company Polyglot fuses audio theatre, live performance and participatory buggy choreography. This European premiere leads a two-day programme of events transforming Stratford Park into a theatrical playground for families.
Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF), London’s award-winning annual festival of free theatre and performing arts will take place from 23 August – 8 September 2024, bringing together a FREE programme of performances by UK and international artists, including several productions which will be co-created with local participants and presented across public spaces in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Newham and the City of London.
THAW brings Londoners face to face with the urgent need for global climate action with a powerful performance which takes place over 8 hours. This aerial production on a 2.5 tonne block of ice gathers intensifying power and urgency as the ice, suspended on a crane high above the iconic landscape of Newham’s historic Royal Docks by the University of East London’s campus, gradually melts away.
A new site-specific show Bodies of Water marks the fourth collaboration between Actors Touring Company (ATC) and GDIF following 2023’s sell-out, critically acclaimed production The Architect. Co-created with local sanctuary seeking communities and experienced on the shore of the Thames at the Ahoy! Centre in Deptford, Greenwich, this moving theatrical experience responds to Warsan Shire’s (Lemonade and Black is King with Beyoncé) poem HOME. Matthew Xia directs with dramaturgy by Francesca Beard featuring live music by Britain’s most celebrated Oud player Rihab Azar.
TOUCH combines the theatrical use of a flight of stairs and gravity-defying trampoline choreography, by renowned French dancer and choreographer Yoann Bourgeois whos performances have gone viral around the world and recently collaborations with Harry Styles, P!nk and Missy Elliott. This UK premiere will be performed to an extraordinary electro-synth Daft Punk soundtrack at Stratford Cross – a thriving destination in East London and the gateway to East Bank, the UK’s exciting new cultural quarter on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. TOUCH will be presented as part of Dancing City, GDIF’s iconic, annual programme of outdoor dance, which this year will move from Canary Wharf to Stratford, Newham, in an exciting new partnership with Sadler’s Wells East.
GDIF’s flagship 2024 commission PATOIS will tour to several locations during the festival with performances taking place in Greenwich, Woolwich, Abbey Wood and Stratford. Created by renowned choreographer Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE, this fusion of traditional Caribbean movement and contemporary choreography tells a universal story of belonging and identity, reawakening past stories and lost languages.
Also announced today are performances of PRAM PEOPLE as part of a two-day programme of family-friendly events which will transform Stratford Park, Newham into a theatrical playground for children and their families. Australian children’s theatre company Polyglot, rolls out the red carpet for prams of all shapes and sizes, with an invitation for families to participate in an immersive celebration of community. In partnership with Discover Children’s Story Centre, participants will be invited to decorate their buggies in colourful ribbons and then use headphones to follow playful audio prompts and clues which lead to a synchronized pram- party in a surprisingly moving celebration of community and parent-child connection.
GDIF’s annual “festival within a festival” Greenwich Fair, is transforming into a biennial event in response to an increasingly challenging nationwide arts funding landscape but is planned to return in 2025 for GDIF’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
The full Greenwich+Docklands International Festival 2024 programme will be revealed later this Summer.
