Full programme announced for Greenwich and Docklands International Festival
© Ilja van de Pavert
Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) has announced its 2016 lineup which includes six world premieres, five UK premieres and twelve London premieres.
The large outdoor arts festival – which turns 21 this year – runs from 24 June to 2 July.
Opening the festival will be The House (24 June), a specially commissioned piece marking the 400th anniversary of The Queen's House and its forthcoming re-opening this year. The production will feature video projections by BAFTA Award-winner Tal Rosner, hip hop from Avant Garde Dance, music by Novello Award-winning composer Dan Jones, performance and pyrotechnics from German outdoor theatre company Pan.Optikum and narration from Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke.
Other performances include the world premiere of Silence (30 June, 1 July) from Polish company Teatr Biuro Podróży, a new outdoor theatre production which tells the story of refugees and migrants dreaming of escape from war and Dancing City (1, 2 July), an outdoor dance extravaganza across the parks and piazzas of Canary Wharf.
The finale of the festival will be The Clash of Drums (2 July) by Les Commandos Percus & Deabru Beltzak, a fusion of percussion and fireworks. The production will tour to Luton, Leicester, Hull, Doncaster and Liverpool after.
Elsewhere in the programme, the annual Greenwich Fair will take place on 25 and 26 June which will see over 21 productions including circus, theatre, dance, street games, cabaret, live art and mass participation performed in the streets of of the capital. There will be five days of outdoor children's theatre and dance at Moat Island at Well Hall Pleasaunce in Eltham and a heard of mechanical animals will occupy a park alongside a performance on a 13 tonne digger in Ignite! (2, 3 July).
Bradley Hemmings, artistic director of GDIF said: "Over the Festival’s lifetime, there’s been a revolution in our national appetite for outdoor cultural experiences and GDIF has played a proud part in this story, building from a local festival to one of the most influential festivals of outdoor arts in Europe. I’m thrilled to see the Festival come of age in 2016 with more venues and sites than in any previous year."
