The project was shaped around bringing together theatre and skateboarding as two embodied practices in a process of collaborative and reciprocal learning. The multiple ways in which this happened within the project between cast members, performance techniques, and space making was fascinating. The project was part inspired by the work and writing of Dani Abulhawa and her work Skateboarding and Femininity: Gender, Space-making and Expressive Movement. Dani was also involved with choreographing skateboarding interludes within performances. By drawing on similarities between skateboarding and performing arts, the project looked to inquire and challenge gendered dynamics of skateboarding by integrating previously unconsidered uses and practices within skateparks. A big part of the project was also working with collectives and organisations such as The Grove Community Garden and The Ben Raemers Foundation, as well as co-designing new skate obstacles for performances alongside Betong Skateparks. The uptake of a Shakespeare classic was to widen participation to an audience more-concerned with the fine arts than DIY skateparks, as well as drawing similarities between The Grove and Shakespeare’s story across themes of tensions between human, nature, chaos, order, love and loss.

Read more about the project here

And some post-project thoughts here
Performance photos by Dorothy Dee