Passion for the Planet: Mole Valley 2023
By Tony Earnshaw
An immersive, promenade performance for adults and children about ecological sustainability and care, full of silliness, music, song, dance and puppetry.
Community and schools involvement from August and September 2023, with public performances in Mole Valley in October.
Online programme
Rather than using up precious trees and printing out loads of paper copies, we put our show programme for Passion for the Planet online.
About the show
Passion for the Planet is a promenade performance for adults and children of all ages. This 2023 production took our hugely successful 2021 Gateshead project, then recreated and localised it especially for the Mole Valley community.
The show explores the crucial themes of ecological sustainability and care – care for the Earth and all its guests, care for self, care for others.
The show is an immersive theatrical journey combining music, song, dance, mask, puppetry, storytelling and multi-media installations.
Our aim? To deliver a deeper understanding of the issues alongside audience enjoyment via truly accessible local theatre.
Reviews from the 2023 production:
“I loved seeing the young children responding in wonder to everything, and yet there was something for all of us…”
“These kids are not going to forget to look after the planet now!”
“We were all truly blown away by the amazing acting and the message given. So enjoyable….”
“Our grandchildren loved it and went to bed saying save the planet! I was moved with laughter and tears…”
“It was good to be reminded that when pursuing such a worthy cause we can have laughter and joy…”
Community involvement
Passion for the Planet began with ‘making days’ open to the local community in Mole Valley from August 2023.
Alongside that, we ran creative workshops in collaboration with local community groups. These were followed by school visits from September.
We worked with local primary and secondary schools and support organisations to:
- develop the performance themes
- create scenery, costume, masks, puppetry and installations for the production
- run a film competition
- offer work placement positions
By developing projects with a strong emphasis on community involvement, we encourage people to reach outside their existing context and explore diverse approaches to life. Further, we create a network of interpersonal relationships, inter-organisational connections, social cohesion and teamwork.
We also always aim to deliver transforming benefit, during the duration of our projects and as a lasting legacy thereafter.
Legacy
Damn Cheek always strives for identifiable and quantifiable legacy.
To achieve this, we apply our rigorous evaluation process – developed with Manchester University – to all our projects.
These evaluations consistently show that individuals, organisations and communities involved with these projects have increased their understanding, skills, self-belief and relationships.
We have every confidence that our Mole Valley production of Passion for the Planet will deliver the same practical, educational and developmental benefits.
Team
The Passion for the Planet team is headed by Artistic Director Darren Cheek and includes Helen Potter (Musical Director and Performer), Chris de Wilde (Designer), Tony Earnshaw (Writer) and Karen Spicer (Performer).
This project was part-funded by Mole Valley District Council, using money provided by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund*.
We are also delighted to be supported in presenting Passion for the Planet to the Mole Valley community by our generous sponsors Dorking Quaker Meeting, West Weald Area Quaker Meeting, the Sylvia Waddilove Foundation and Circular Dorking. Without their generous help and support, this production would not have been possible.
Production images
(Click to enlarge)
