Great Fire 350
Inner Temple, City of London
30 August – 4th September 2017
City of London
We were holding off presenting the show in London until the correct opportunity came along. An invitation to be part of a program of arts events commemorating the 350 anniversary of The Great Fire of London felt like just the kind of opportunity we were holding out for. The gig grew even more attractive when producers Artichoke secured the City of London’s Inner Temple Hall as a venue.
The performance used two tonnes of rice and was themed around fire and its consequences. We had nearly 3,500 visitors and occasionally had to use a queuing system to make sure everyone had space to enjoy the show.
Opening before the main festival and running until the last day enabled Of All the People in all the World to feel as if it was at the heart of the event and the layout grew more sophisticated as nuanced as the performance went on.
Highlight:
A proposal of marriage (and its acceptance) within the show. Performer Gareth Nicholls found his name in the show and his partner proposing, they added their grains of rice to a sheet of paper to mark the event and this statistic became the basis of a section about civil partnerships and gay marriage.
A twin statistic was added to the show being performed simultaneously in Basel.
Lowlight:
Having to stop.
Photo Credits: Matthew Andrews
Credits
Research: Craig Stephens and Jack Trow
Performers: Sarah Archdeacon, Heather Burton, Chris Dugrenier, Gareth Nicholls, Ian Nicholson, Joseph Prestwich, Juliet Rufford, Jack Trow,
Concept: James Yarker
Soundscape: Jon Ward
Executive Producer:Roisin Caffrey
Administrator: Jessie Coller
Commissioned by: Artichoke
Front of House Manager: Jenny Smith
With thanks to:
Security and staff at the Inner Temple
Helen Marriage, Susie Thornberry and everyone at Artichoke
Mungo Ryan and everyone at White Productions
Flint PR