I thoroughly enjoyed this commission for Walk the Plank outdoor theatre company, presented as part of their Wild Wanders trail which was at Hollingworth Country Park 24-27 October 2024. 

We worked with 11 classes of primary school children (Years 4-6) asking them about their thoughts and wishes for their world both now and in the future. I then recorded their statements and with writer Kim Wiltshire, we arranged a verbatim poem from these recordings in a mini recording studio we set up at Rochdale Town Hall. As part of the experience, they met an 8.5 metre puppet called Lily, for whom they delivered a letter and thought about how they want the future to be.

We asked them:

What do you love about living in Rochdale?

What kind of world do you wish for baby Lily?

A general sentence starter – Dear adults…

With thanks to Dr Harry Ovington for bat recordings

Photo by Kim Wiltshire; video projection by Illuminos