Jo
Palmer
LIGHTING DESIGN for
A Ballad for Thamesmead
Dante or Die for
The Greenwich and Docklands Festival (GDIF)
Thamesmead Clocktower
September 2024
Video Credit, Elijah Grant
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by Stu Mayhew
Photo by Stu Mayhew
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by Stu Mayhew
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
Photo by David Levene
DIRECTOR | ARTI PRASHAR
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | TERRY O'DONOVAN
COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN | MARIE BASHIRU
SET & COSTUME DESIGN | STEWART J CHARLESWORTH
MOVEMENT DIRECTION | AYSE TASHKIRAN
ASSISTANT MOVEMENT DIRECTOR | ELIZE LAYTON
STAGE MANAGERS | STELLA KAILIDES & ELLEN SWAILES
PERFORMERS | JASMINE CHIU, JORDAN AJIDI & SIMON RICE
FEATURING THE THAMESMEAD COMMUNITY CHOIR
1986. The restored Nelson’s Clock is hauled onto a barge in Deptford and sailed down the Thames –
a gift to a new town centre at the vibrant focal point of Thamesmead.
2024. A baby coot nestles in her canal nest in the shadow of the clocktower. Three kids scuttle up and down the steps playing families. And a woman sits looking up at the hands tick-tick-ticking away, pondering the ebbs and flows of home.
Created by award-winning site-specific theatre company Dante or Die, A Ballad of Thamesmead gently peeks into how the world around us impacts how we feel about our home. Live folk songs by Abbey Wood native Marie Bashiru alongside Thamesmead Community Choir interweave with a soaring sound design that includes local peoples’ voices, culminating in the clocktower illuminated like never before.
A Ballad of Thamesmead is supported by Peabody, The Royal Borough of Greenwich, Royal Greenwich Festivals and Arts Council England.