WILDWORKS

WILDWORKS

WildWorks is an international theatre based company that create site specific theatre and art installations around the world. Founded in 2005 by Bill Mitchell as a company that makes landscape theatre, which is specific to the people of the community that they are working in and the performance grows out of their stories as well as the locations and places in the community: castles, cliffs, empty buildings ect. 

WildWorks performances are centred on the narrative of the piece, bringing the stories of the community to the site and seeing how the people and the place tie in together. They focus human stories that can communicate and affect all audience, breaking down the barrios of age, language and nationality. The stories change from community to community and WildWorks look at stories that are both epic and intimate showing the range of humanity and the people within it. 

WildWorks approach to a place and the community within it is unique and distinctive to them as a company. The creative heartbeat of the company comes from the research into the community and the place and exploring the feelings, thoughts and memories of people, to create the work that is produced. WildWorks are very respectful of the place that they are working in and approach it with mutual hospitality for the people who inhabit the physical place. Working in both rural and urban settings, WildWorks often choose to work with communities and places that are facing dramatic change: post-conflict, radical development and collapse of traditional industry.  

WildWorks work in this way as it touches and affects audiences as traditional theatre performance may not be able to by uncovering layers of meaning and attracting new audiences and making them active. They create sensory worlds where every element becomes a part of the narrative: the light, the sound, the smells, the visual elements and touch. The explore and work with distance and closeness from a flag on the horizon to a character holding a rose so close to you that you can smell it. 

I have chosen to look at and research WildWorks because of the range of work that they do with the community, working with all members to create performances that reflect their place and the lives that they have lived. I am really interested in the inclusive element to their performances, not only including all members of the community they are working in but also the range of audiences that they attempt to reach regardless of language barrios. I feel that this extends the feeling of community to all audiences, making everyone feel a part of the performance. I really like WildWorks rehearsal and creative process, and I think that the human truthfulness in their performances comes from their careful and respectful research into people’s lives and by using their own words and stories, I feel a genuine performance full of real emotions can be formed and this allows them to communicate and affect all audience’s. I also think that the heavy involvement from the community in their works is what makes them as a company so unique and successful in creating affective performances. This is one reason why I chose them to study because as a theatre group they use and include all elements of the community within their work. I also think that the sensory element in their performance makes them inclusive in their performance as people of all abilities can experience the performance on some level and giving each audience member a different experience. I think it also creates a more immersive performance, really exploring and experimenting with theatre as an art form.