I am a member of 'the wonderful', a sustainable arts collective of ten theatre practitioners, film-makers, musicians & scientists. Our work explores our disconnect from one another, our isolation from nature, and how to enact change.  I have a combined role of resident artist/ designer. 

The team

The wonderful are an emerging theatre and arts collective. We aim to tell urgent stories that address the misdirection and disconnection which has led society to our current place. The thin line between art and science inspires our work, which is richly multimedia, blending music, film, theatre, dance and visual art, to create a truly immersive world for audiences to inhabit. 

As a company, we want to speak through our work about our current crises of connection. Our disconnect from one another (both psychological and enforced); our isolation from the natural environment in which we belong and its consequences Covid-19 being the most urgent and apparent. We draw on ritual, mythology and folklore, buried histories and activism to explore these themes, and seek hope in art and science. 

The project

Nevergreen is our début piece about the life & mind of pioneering scientist & writer Rachel Carson, who birthed modern environmentalism. Its first iteration was a 47-min film including music & animation: rehearsed, shot & edited during lockdown in Dec ‘20. 

Screening at Living Record Festival during Jan-Feb 2021, Nevergreen received critical & audience acclaim: 4 star reviews from the Guardian (‘beautifully filmed’) & The Stage (‘somehow both ethereal and alarming – and entirely original’) & an Off-West End nomination. 

Carson’s works, particularly 1962’s Silent Spring, were landmarks in changing our conception of nature & our place in it. We are telling her story now to engage with the climate & other crises that have driven us apart from the natural world.

My Role

My original art is woven throughout the piece: paintings, etchings, illustrations and photography are subtly animated to interact with the poetic prose and original music, to create a work that is both a single piece of art and a lyrical narrative. This means that the viewer could watch for ten seconds or the full fifty minutes and find themselves deeply immersed in Carson’s beautiful and tragic world. Each piece of art included is a stand-alone, original piece and could form an accompanying exhibition of works. These paintings, drawings and prints explore the environmental focus of the film alongside broader themes of the interconnectivity of strangers, the effects of urban life and humanities’ habit of creating beauty by accident! 

Our Goals

To platform Carson’s message of activism for all.

Silent Spring is not well known especially among young people due to the lesser importance placed on female scientists. We hope to make the urgency of her message speak again & give nature a voice onstage. 

To educate young people about sustainability using science & art.

At our free workshops at Poplar Union for young people aged 8-12, we will use foraged & recycled materials to create collaged ocean & forest scenes, to be animated & projected during our live show.

Reviews

'It's somehow both ethereal and alarming - and entirely original' (★★★★) Fergus Morgan at The Stage. 

'It captures the contrasting poetry of the natural and man-made worlds' (★★★★) Mark Fisher at The Guardian.