Theatre

I haven't seen anything like this since 7:84 in their hey day

Collective Encounters creates new work in new spaces for new audiences. Over the last 5 years we have animated deserted streets in north Liverpool to explore the impacts of regeneration on communities; mounted cabarets in disused mills to tell the socio-political history of the city and turned empty shops into opera houses to shine a light on the diverse experiences and backgrounds of Britain’s homeless community.

The catalyst for the professional, theatrical work we produce is always the issues and ideas which are brought up by the people who we work with through our extensive community programme. This means the professional writers, composers, designers, choreographers and directors we engage will spend time with participants to really understand their ‘voice’, ideas, concerns and translate them into a spine-tingling theatrical experience for both traditional and new audiences.

Currently, we have two projects in development.

In Our Times

In Our Times brings back together the creative team which brought us Smoke and Mirrors to create a song cycle articulating the communities’ of Liverpool responses to the economic crisis and government cuts. The songs cycle will be available digitally from April 2012 and the project will also culminate in a celebratory performance in Liverpool in Spring 2012.

Songs for Silenced Voices

A full length version of this 20 minute opera goes into pre-production in December with commissions for Patrick Dineen and Dic Edwards. We are currently fundraising for the full-length opera to be realised in all its glory in December 2012.