Outdoor performance will tackle climate anxiety
ARU students are helping Trumpington community garden mark its 10th birthday
Clay Farm Community Garden in Trumpington, Cambridge
Drama students from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) will help launch a year of 10th birthday celebrations at Clay Farm Community Garden in Trumpington in April, when they perform ‘The Magic Seed’, a free family show about nature, community and hope in the face of climate change.
Second-year ARU students on the Community Theatre module have been working with volunteers from the community garden project, on Hobson Avenue, and nearby Trumpington Community Orchard to devise the outdoor show, which they will perform in the garden on Thursday, 10 April at 4pm.
The show follows a character called Kit, who is worried about an approaching storm. Kit is searching for a magic seed and for people who can help him protect the garden. On the way, he meets a series of entertaining characters and creatures who help him on his journey.
The students from ARU’s BA (Hons) Drama degree course have dramatised the history and biodiversity of the garden, and have used local stories to celebrate the benefits it brings for residents.
The themes for the show were inspired by advice from Simon Floyd of Common Lot Community Theatre Company, which is currently running a large-scale eco-theatre project in Norwich called ‘Mousehold to the Marsh’.
The ARU Drama project has also been supported by psychologist Dr Daniela Fernandez Catherall from Cambridge Climate Therapists, and by Professor Rosie Robison from ARU’s Global Sustainability Institute, who have helped the students understand climate anxiety and the positive ways it can be addressed through community green-space action.
“We know from our research that getting involved with allotments, community gardens and wildlife conservation areas really helps to ease people’s anxiety about climate change, so that is what our show is about.
“Clay Farm Community Garden is a great example of positive social action. Volunteers started working the garden back in 2015 when it was just a patch of wasteland, and now it is a haven for all sorts of fruit, flowers, vegetables, insects, birds and animals.”
Dr Jonny Croose, Senior Lecturer in Acting at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)Dr Croose said the final symbolic act of the play would be a scattering of wildflower seeds in the garden by the performers and audience, supplied by Trumpington Meadows Wildlife Trust.
“It would be great if we could leave a little wildflower legacy on the site for future generations. “Back in 2015, volunteers planted trees for some local newborn babies and they are now getting quite big, so it just goes to show what a bit of effort for nature can achieve.”
The Magic Seed will be performed at Clay Farm Community Garden, Hobson Avenue, Trumpington, at 4pm on Thursday, 10 April. The show is free and suitable for families. The nearest Busway stop is Foster Road. Food will also be available on site from 5-8pm, and can be ordered in advance from Rotisseroll via https://linktr.ee/clayfarmfood