Passion for the Planet Mole Valley 2023: Online programme

Rather than using up precious trees and printing out loads of paper copies, we’ve put our show programme for Passion for the Planet online.

You can either download a PDF version (and print out at home if you wish!) or read the programme on the page below.

Passion for the Planet first saw the light of day when Damn Cheek were asked to come up with a community show for the Gateshead parish of Felling during lockdown. Planning and preparation were all on Zoom. Community groups, churches and schools produced their contributions in their bubbles. The promenade round the venue – Christ Church in Felling – was in the then mandated groups of six.

The success of the show led to more collaborations with our Gateshead friends and to a desire to stage it again elsewhere. And where better than the Mole Valley, where Tony Earnshaw – the show’s writer and Damn Cheek director – is a long-term resident.

The Mole Valley community rose to the challenge and Damn Cheek soon had a venue, co-producers and a range of supportive groups and individuals. The Dorking Meeting of the Society of Friends became the lead co-producer. It provided the venue, a beautiful historic meeting house in the heart of Dorking, as well as planning, financial – and moral – support.

The team then got to work on adjusting the script. This was needed first to allow for the different venue – Felling church and Dorking Meeting House are very different buildings and the site-specific promenade meant some changes were needed. The second change was to incorporate the different community, with Gateshead specifics removed and Mole Valley concerns included.

Passion for the Planet looks at our world, the need to care for it, the teachings of the major faiths and philosophies about creation, care and creativity, and poses questions about our behaviours and the legacy we want to leave – serious issues handled with care and a generous leavening of fun.

The list of community groups and individuals who have helped along the way is long and all their efforts are very much appreciated. They range from the Quakers to Circular Dorking, from writing groups to choirs, and from business groups to the team at Arts Alive.

Producers

Tony Earnshaw and Darren Cheek with production support, advice, funding work and much more provided by Damn Cheek directors Susan Quilliam and Karen Spicer.

Biographies

Read biographies of the Damn Cheek creative team

Artwork and poetry

The artwork and poetry in the installations were produced during workshops and creative sessions at Pippfest and the Arts Alive launch, and in workshops with TAG and the children and young people of:

• Dorking MyTime
• The Young Quakers
• Therfield School
• St John’s Primary School (North Holmwood)
• St Paul’s Primary School (Dorking)
• The Weald Primary School (Beare Green)
• Leatherhead Trinity School
• Greville Primary School (Ashtead)
• Surrey Hills All Saints Primary School (Westcott)

The poems in the tree as you approach the Meeting House were contributed by members of Mole Valley Poets, leaves to a tree, Phoenix Writers, The Narnia Group, and others. The poems will feature, alongside the children’s work, in a legacy book to be produced after the run of the show finishes.

• Circular Dorking
• River Mole River Watch
• Brockham Choral
• Mole Valley Poets
• leaves to a tree haiku group
• Phoenix Writers
• Mole Valley Scriptwriters
• Society of Authors Surrey Group
• The Narnia Group
• Dorking Climate Emergency
• Green Westcott
• Dorking Business Breakfast Group
• Dorking Rotary
• Leatherhead Rotary
• Dorking Guerilla Knitters