University dancers explore Fault Lines at Brighton Festival

Artistic directors Abi Mortimer and Carrie Whitaker, who are lecturers at Chichester University, are offering a piece which “pulls at the tension in our relationship with nature.”

The piece argues that our constant pursuit of progress increasing the speed of life has left us out of sync with the natural world. It features a scorched earth. From the rubble and the ruin, the survivors emerge. A new world, a second chance. Within changing landscapes created from digital illustrations and music, the survivors navigate the world, racing towards an unknown future. Fault Lines explores the environmental damage we’ve inflicted but asks what happens when we stand together with hope? What will that take? New writing by Nick Walker gives voice to “both the existential panic alongside the everyday problem-solving needed to live on a hotter, more crowded, and less predictable planet.”

The show comes with an original sound score by Dougie Evans, projection of digital imagery by Zach Walker and digital moving illustrations by Courtney McCarthy.

Producer Lou Rogers said: “The show is inspired by the climate emergency. That's how we started but we wanted to make it a show that was personal to everyone. We found that there is a huge amount of overwhelm when it comes to the climate emergency. People just don't know what to do or where to start so we wanted to make a show about the small changes that people can make. It's a hopeful show. It's a show that believes that things can improve. We did a lot of research and we had a lot of communication with the Green Party and Greenpeace and with various environmental scientists to look at how we might be able to try to reverse the damage that we've done, and the hope is that we can. There is optimism as long as we do do something about it but also governments in the wider picture and also the larger corporate companies have to make changes as well.”

But the point is that we can make small changes – for instance carrying around a water bottle rather than buying water bottles; carrying round a cup rather than using disposable cups; and trying to travel by public transport: “Dance is a good way to express all this. Our shows are very accessible and there is also spoken word. The show doesn't have a set. We have two digital projectors which means that we can go everywhere by public transport. All our costumes are recycled or second hand. Everything we do in the show, the whole creation, the whole piece and the whole performance is embedded in that ethos.”

Whilst on tour, performers and crew are fed through a partnership with food rescue charity UK Harvest. Even the promotional posters are reused in each location.