Love. Thought. Spirit. A Park in Three Acts.
In 2020, we launched Salford Creative Community to make and share creative digital expressions of Salford’s parks and public spaces. New students come to Salford University every year. Many know nothing about the area. Peel Park is a hidden gem, unknown to many local residents, too. Situated in a basin, and surrounded by tall buildings, it can be difficult to see the Park from the main road. Many people walk past going to work, study, or shop, and never realise what’s there. We want to encourage people to explore beyond the café and the gift shop, to see the beautiful vista of the park open up from the vantage point at the top of the stairs/ramp, and to step into the beautiful green space. During Lockdown, the park became our creative space, a laboratory, studio and endless source of inspiration. We set to work, talking, emailing and uploading photos, composing music, writing poetry, painting, thinking, sharing ideas. The film structure came together during a creative conversation. We mapped out three acts:
Prelude:
With an inspirational, original soundtrack by one of our local residents, this sequence shows the park as a place of sanctuary and beauty during difficult times.
Act 1: Love
The park speaks to us in a poem that asks us to notice it, drawing attention to the non-human actors in our environment.
Act 2: Thought
Uses archive footage to explore the rich history of the park and its people, a place that was always egalitarian when most other parks were exclusive.
Act 3: Spirit
Enriches our senses with images and artwork that introduce us to the concept of the “therapeutic park”.
Coda: urges us to visit the park for ourselves.
Our working process uses the principles of collaborative learning to establish a safe space where every idea is valued equally, and people can be supported to tell their stories. A Salford Advantage Fund grant has allowed professional creative facilitation of a set workshops delivered by VisioningLab, hosted by our partners Loaves and Fishes and in Peel Park (socially distanced), in which University students and staff interacted with local people to share life experiences and stories. The use of creative activities provides an alternative to therapeutic and bureaucratic relationships, positioning all stakeholders as equals. This collaboration uses the concept of the Common Third, in which collaborative engagement in creative activity allows other identities to emerge that focus on potential and not problems. The panel discussion offers reflections on this process and will include local residents speaking about the value they found in being part of the group and the film making process.
We are delighted to share our work and our process, where everyone’s ideas were included, and diverse experiences coalesced into poetry, music and images exploring the past and present of the park and its people. This is a special opportunity to hear local people reflect upon their experiences alongside a screening of the film.
HOW TO WATCH
This show will be taking place on Zoom. On the day of the show you will be emailed an exclusive link to the room where the show will commence.
Please remember to book with the same name and email as you will be using on Zoom.
If you are using a different name and email address, you may be turned away as we cannot authenticate you as a patron.
Suitable for all ages.
Admission: Pay What You Can
Pay What You Can is an ‘honesty box’ for the theatre.
As a guide, for those in full time employment we would appreciate you paying between £5 and £10. We also understand people’s income can be precarious, hence the free and lower price options.
Ticket sales for ‘A Park in Three Acts: Celebration of Peel Park’ will be going to Loaves and Fishes, a charity based in Salford, who provide advice and support to vulnerable people or those struggling with homelessness in the Salford community. You can click here to find out more, and what they are doing to help during the pandemic.
Please note that all tickets come with a 50p Fatsoma booking fee.
Salford Creative Community website
Loaves and Fishes website ¦ Twitter ¦ Instagram
UoS PGR Twitter ¦ UoS PGR Instagram
Venue
Salford M5 4BR
UK