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The Unommercial Traveller is part of Notte Bianca's Atmosfera programme.
Dowload the tours and the map below
Atmosfera programme
As part of the British Council’s Dickens 2012 programme, Arcola Theatre and Punchdrunk Enrichment have set out to rediscover the resonance of Charles Dickens’s creative process for the 21st century.
The Uncommercial Traveller is Charles Dickens’ non-fiction account of his wanderings around London. One of the great socio-realists of his time, Dickens documented life in a rapidly developing London, capturing the joys and tragedies of this great city. This little-known work features people and places which inspired many of his future works and gives the reader a glimpse into the personal thoughts and opinions of a man fascinated by cities and those living in them. Dickens (an insomniac) walked the back-streets of London in the early hours of the morning, revealing parts of the city which remained hidden from public view.
The project aims to find a 21. century resonance of Dickens’ accounts by creating audio-guided tours of cities around the world; celebrating communities and their relationship to the city in which they live. Punchdrunk and Arcola Theatre will work with each community to develop a creative and reflective tour of their city.
Having already travelled to London, Melbourne, Karachi, Penang and Singapore, The Uncommercial Traveller recently visited Valletta.
A small group of Maltese people had the opportunity to work with Bryn Jones, Raquel Messegeur and Stephen Dobbie (Punchdrunk Enrichment) to share their stories of Valletta and create five inspirational audio guided tours for our capital city. This project was organised in collaboration with St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity.
The participants were: Vanessa Attard, Ruth Borg, Rebecca Camilleri, Philip Leone Ganado, Tekla Granlund, Isabel Jakobsen, Erin Stuart Palmier, Rodolfo Pinna Parpaglia, Jacob Piccinino, Naomi Said and James Saliba.
Cities are rich and complex environments, in which the people, stories and histories which make them unique, are often hidden from public view. Visitors often see cities through their architecture rather than through the experiences of those who live there. This project allowed a community to shape the experience of visitors to their part of the city.
Using a range of storytelling techniques, participants shared stories about Valletta and explored why these stories were important. Individuals were invited to see this project as a personal exploration of their relationship to the city, encouraging them to see the city as a constantly evolving environment in which individuals and communities have the ability to shape the city and people’s perceptions of it. The stories developed by participants were woven into a narrative which leads audiences on a tour of Valletta, inviting them to view familiar surroundings in an entirely new way.
These tours take the form of a headphone journey, in which audiences follow a map whilst listening to a soundtrack of music, spoken word, poetry and sound, creating a multi-sensory experience.
Discovering the Heart of Valletta by Philip Leone Ganado (SundayCircle.com)
Visiting Valletta's Past...in the Present by Coryse Borg (The Sunday Times of Malta, 5 May, 2013)
The tours can be dowloaded here:
WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING UP by Isabel Jakobsen and Philip Leone Ganado
THE STREET WITHOUT A NAME by Rebecca Camilleri and Erin Stuart Palmier
WHAT HAPPENED, HAPPENED BETWEEN THE YEARS by Vanessa Attard & Tekla Granlund
THE DESCENT by Naomi Said and Jacob Piccinino
FROM THE HEART TO THE FINGER by Ruth Borg, James Saliba and Rodolfo Pinna Parpaglia
The map for the audio tours can be downloaded here
Punchdrunk
Punchdrunk is an award winning company which has pioneered a new form of theatrical experience. Punchdrunk's work is usually presented on an epic scale, staged inside vast, empty buildings transformed into the world of the performance. The audience are placed at the heart of the performance, in which the sensory and the experiential are paramount. Punchdrunk Enrichment aims to take this ethos into educational and community settings and has created groundbreaking projects with schools and community groups.
http://punchdrunk.com/#
Arcola Theatre
Founded in 2000, Arcola Theatre is now one of the most respected arts venues in the UK - blazing a trail in artistic excellence since day-one. Arcola has become well known for its unique blend of professional theatre, cutting-edge green technology and community engagement. Arcola Creative Learning is a key element of the theatre’s work, creating genuinely radical opportunities for local people to participate in the arts. The theatre acts as a creative hub for its community, providing opportunities to learn, train and perform under the guidance of world-class artists.
http://www.arcolatheatre.com/
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