An immersive journey through time and a city 

 

Conceived by Mojisola Adebayo, Roy Williams and Matthew Xia, and created with a collective of leading Black artists including Bola Agbaje, Dexter Flanders, Vanessa Macauley and XANA 

 

Journey aboard an iconic red bus. The Architect transports audiences through South-East London asking how we create a blueprint for the future, three decades after a seismic event in British history.  

 

This celebratory and stirring immersive theatrical journey, infused with the experiences of Black Londoners, imagines the potential of uninterrupted Black lives, and the hopes ambitions and dreams that accompany them through performance, sound design, music and projection.    

 

Produced by Actors Touring Company and Greenwich + Docklands Festival, following their award-winning collaboration on Family Tree, and in proud in association with the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation.  

 

ATC Artistic Director Matthew Xia says: Thirty years ago, the UK was rocked to its very core by the unprovoked racist murder of South London teenager Stephen Lawrence. The ensuing decades became a fight for justice and revealed the extent of institutional racism across the nation. I have gathered a collective of the most brilliant Black theatre artists to respond to this commemorative moment, and as is often the way with such painful events and memories, we want to try to move through the trauma, and the profound loss towards something uplifting and hopeful. We come together in our collective power to imagine an alternative city, designed and inhabited by The Architect, and we invite you to journey with us.” 

Jessica Neil, Chief Executive of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation said: “Stories have the power to inspire ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. The deeply personal individual experiences of people from marginalised communities, paint a picture of our remarkable collective contributions to British society,and also of how far we still have to travel.The Architect is a powerful example of how storytelling can create empathy, understanding and hope in communities, and we are so proud that Stephen’s legacy is being supported by GDIF, Matthew Xia and the Actors Touring Company as they bring this important production to life.”

COMING SOON – TICKETS ON SALE IN JULY!

 

Performances will take place in early September as part of the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2023.  

 

Dates and ticket booking details will be released in July: sign up for updates from Festival.org

 

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