Anna Harriot and Iona Johnson are Salisbury based theatre makers who, last week, had a paper published in the innovative new scientific journal; Civic Partners in Net Zero, presented at the House of Commons.
MAST Mayflower Studios have seed funded the original show creation of Stories in the Dust, and we were lucky enough to see a snippet of this show back at The Home Grown Festival in 2022.
The paper, Co Written with Professor Ian Williams of Southampton University, is entitled Stories in the Dust: the arts as a medium to communicate climate science research. It explores how the arts can be an effective tool to inspire social change, communicating climate science by getting right to the heart of an audience, through live theatre.
They were invited to attend the event by the publishers of the journal Key Cities; a diverse, national network made up of 27 cities. On their website they describe the event:
MPs, City Leaders, Universities and Stakeholders came together at the House of Commons on 23 April 2024 to launch Civic Partners in Net Zero, a collection of peer-reviewed innovations showing universities working with Key Cities and local stakeholders to meet net zero targets.
The event was held to launch the journal, to facilitate inspiring conversations and for those involved to make connections in order to work together in the future. The journal includes 6 papers, all of which feature projects that have been successful and that are replicable and scalable. Anna and Iona said ‘We hope that our paper inspires other theatre companies, universities and cities to collaborate in a similar way.’
Originally, they hadn’t intended to make a family show about climate change. However, after a creative process where they looked at what young people care about and current world events, they found they had done just that. On realising just how head on they were tackling the theme of climate change, and thanks to Arts Council funding back in summer 2023, they reached out to Southampton University and quickly developed an unexpected and incredibly exciting relationship with Professor Ian Williams. He supported and developed the storyline of the show, and to create the accompanying education pack and workshop programme.
Anna and Iona said ‘It has been an invaluable and eye-opening process. Before this project, the work didn’t have any overlap with the science world, and we certainly didn’t see ourselves going to a Parliamentary Dinner but here we are! We’re proud to be forging new collaborations and to have represented the arts and Southampton University in the House of Commons – it was an incredible opportunity for theatre makers like us.’
‘We believe that theatre is a tool to inspire social change. Being an audience member at a live theatre show is an individual and participatory experience, one that offers you the space to process societal problems and explore potential solutions. In this way, we’ve been able to connect our young audiences with the subject of climate change in a show that is meaningful, fun and hopeful.’
Stories in the Dust tells the story of two travellers, journeying across a mysterious land in a contraption they’ve built themselves. They sing, play games, and tell stories inspired by a collection of precious things they’ve gathered from a time gone by. With live music and puppetry, Stories in the Dust is a funny, heartfelt and hopeful eco-fable that takes you to another world. A world where an ancient book guides your way, a drop of rain changes everything and a mighty lion holds its secrets in an old clay pot.
For more information, visit their website here
Stories in the Dust will be touring in Autumn 2024. Keep an eye out for further announcements coming soon.
