Theatre / Performance

Arcadia Festival: Arcadia Adventure Afternoon

12 South Norwood Hill

Sat 19 Sept · 12:00

330m · Music

About this event

Over centuries, we’ve always imagined a better, greener world called Arcadia. Join us for an afternoon of exploration, performance and discovery. Water Rituals by Katy Dye 12 – 12.20pm In The Yard Water Rituals is part ritual, part spell and part blind belief. A performer takes care to decorate sources of water in a building in the hope the taps will never run dry. You are invited to assist in the embellishment and beautifying of these every day sites of water in this performance and throughout the day. Can a cultural relationship with nature help in a time of climate crisis? Can it transform our resources from commodities into deeply alive and powerful presences? Katy Dye is the winner of Feral Arts and Summerhall Autopsy Award, and her work has been funded by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and 100 Disrupters Scotland. Her practice has been supported by Gob Squad, Venice Biennale, Battersea Arts Centre, Cambridge Junction, Aberdeen Performing Arts, In Between Time, Rich Mix and The MAC Birmingham amongst others. She holds a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Performance Practice from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Lunch by Maya’s Cookhouse 12 – 2pm In The Yard Enjoy a vegan Indian lunch, dessert and snacks by Maya’s Cookhouse. Chana masala, salads, samosas, fruit salad and cake will be available for purchase. Climate Conversations by Stanley Youth Environmental Ambassadors  1 – 1.30pm In The Yard and Living Room The Youth Environmental Ambassadors at Stanley Arts invite you to join them for a facilitated conversation about the common connection we all share with nature, regardless of generation, background, or identity. In these conversations, the team invites you to see the world through someone else’s eyes, and be inspired by how familiar it feels as we embark on a journey of climate restoration together. This is part of a wider collective response from the youth ambassador team, providing a multi-sensory experience exploring questions, discussions, and community action along with an accompanying soundscape. Water Rituals by Katy Dye  1.45 – 2.05pm In The Gallery Poempocalypse Croydon by Wayne Samuel 2.15 – 3pm In The Society Room Poempocalypse Croydon is a live choose-your-own-adventure poetry performance and game. It invites the audience to participate in a “Survival Roleplay”. Set right here in a speculative-fiction version of Croydon, it bridges the gap between traditional theatrical performance and interactive gaming. Using smartphones, you’re invited to vote in real-time on urgent choices, placing narrative power directly into your hands for our collective survival in a world undone by the climate crisis. Wayne Samuel is a spoken word poet, fiction writer, and creative storyteller whose work explores identity, climate, and social critique. Rooted in African oral traditions, his interdisciplinary practice spans live performance, the page, and digital media, blending performance art with elements of theatre and visual culture. A multiple-national slam champion, including War of Words and Spoken Wars, he has been longlisted for The Island Prize and the Quramo Writers Prize. He is a member of the Trace Academia and Campus AFD collective KreAfrika and the Arts Council-sponsored 2026 Creative Lyric cohort. Engaging Young People & Communities in Climate Change – a post-show conversation hosted by Force of Nature & The Resilience Project 3 – 3.30pm In The Society Room Force of Nature and the Resilience Project transform mindsets for climate action by helping young people feel empowered and develop the skills to make a difference. Join Marla King, facilitator of the Resilience Circle programme, working at the intersection of arts & climate justice, for a conversation with our Youth Environmental Ambassador Issac Chandler and performers Wayne Samuel and Rachel Lincoln on engaging young people and local communities in climate action. Listening Ink by Stanley Youth Environmental Ambassadors 3.45 – 4.15pm In The Gallery Join Stanley Arts’ Youth Environmental Ambassadors for an multi-sensory and interactive audio and visual exploration of emotional responses to green space and climate action. Our team will be facilitating a listening bar and an interactive natural ink workshop in the gallery. Set within the context of the Arcadia: Birds of the Borough exhibition, and accompanied by an interactive display and ambient soundscape, you are invited to share your responses to climate change and your experiences of the Festival with words, statements, or illustrations.  Vera by WomanEwer 4.15 – 5pm In Stanley Hall Vera is a new 45 minutes live dance performance that tackles Gender & Ecology and the links between the oppression of women and the degradation of the planet. This performance celebrates womanhood, nature preservation and survival whilst shining a light on environmental and gender justice as indivisible parts of a global struggle.  WomanEwer is a female-led multidisciplinary project offering a safe space to explore movement, sound, and visual art through workshops, performances, and group discussions. Ewer is an old word for a jug. Its shape is reminiscent of the female form and extends to the idea of the container-keeper-receiver, giver and guardian of life, nourishment and stories. New and Newer relates to the notion of revival, revitalization, growth, recognition of experience, rooting and flourishing. Like Mother Nature, women have the ability to heal as they make and remake contact with the soil, cultivate and expand. Making environmentally responsible theatre – a post-show conversation hosted by Pigfoot Theatre 5 – 5.30pm In Stanley Hall Multi-award winning Pigfoot are a leading environmental theatre company. They make innovative, collaborative theatre about the climate & ecological crisis, with the least carbon impact possible. Join Artistic Director Hetty Hodgson in a conversation with Stanley Arts Artistic Director & CEO Louise Bartlett-Pestell alongside Katy Dye and WomanEwer to explore the role arts organisations and theatre-makers play in environmental sustainability.  You can also join us earlier in the day for our Arcadia Wild Morning or book your Arcadia Full Bloom day ticket.