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The Greenwich+ Docklands International Festival

Other | Thursday 9th June 2011 | Osh

One of the great advantages of living in London is there’s always something strange and new to see. London’s arts and culture sector is unquestionably one of the world’s greatest. This is especially obvious when you look at the summer festival calendar, it offers citizens a plethora of entertainment, everything from outdoor cinema to theatre festivals.

One kind of entertainment the city does particularly well is street theatre. You can find all sorts of performances every single day, from Covent Garden to Shoreditch. So when you focus all of this creative energy into a summer festival, you get the Greenwich & Docklands International Festival.

This festival is deeply rooted in London's history. In the 19th century it was known as the Greenwich fair, which had a legendary reputation for attracting people from all classes of Victorian society. It was one of the favourite annual events of many British icons including the great Charles Dickens.

The Greenwich & Dockland Festival is the modern successor of the infamous Victorian fair. This version of the festival has developed an international reputation in its own right for world class street theatre and outdoor performances. The festival is definitely comparable to other similar festivals on a world scale. This year looks like its going to be a particularly exciting one with several very interesting acts performing. Look out for Baroque Box, Acts Without Words II and the Phoenix'.

 There are of course lots of other strange and wonderful acts to look forward to. You could go to an outdoor play where miners discover lava or perhaps life sized puppet works are more appealing. One of the big narrative pieces to look out for is the inventive retelling of Ted Hughes classic the Iron Man at St Alfege Park.

 If you want something that gets you moving look out for 'Gravity' which promises to be an engaging kinetic experience. Its a mix of 19th century hill rolling, physical theatre and dance.

There will be an abundance of things to see and do over the eight days of the festival which takes place from 24th of June to the 2nd of July. The festival is the best chance this year to catch some of most vibrant and varied outdoor theatre available in the world all for free.

-Shaf Choudhury

 

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