Everyday Hero

Some of the characters: Vanity strikes a pose and pouts, Bravery flexes her muscles, Fear looks behind her anxiously, Frustration looks cross and Happiness smiles

On a quest for adventure and self-discovery, a group of friends (Vanity, Fear, Happiness, Frustration, Bravery & Curiosity) cross the threshold and plunge into a forest of fear. Through real and imagined landscapes, helped and hindered by people and creatures along the way, they must battle demons to return with untold riches on a tandem.

Everyday Hero is a unique, outdoor dance theatre production, performed by an integrated company of visually impaired and sighted performers. The show features a rich soundscape of music and sound with a descriptive narrative text containing elements of audio description, to tell the story and outline the action.

‘I loved it. Loved it.‘ Lemm Sissay OBE. Author, Broadcaster, Associate Artist at Southbank Centre and Official Poet of the 2012 London Olympics.

‘Great storytelling,’ Bradley Hemmings, Artistic Director, Greenwich & Docklands International Festival & Co-Artistic Director, London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony

‘Beautiful‘ Sara-Ellen Williams, Senior Events Manager, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

‘The surrealism of the story is so reflective of how blind & partially sighted people perceive their lives, the emotions & fears‘ Fiona Musgrove, Vision 4 Growth

Click on the button to watch a short film

the character Sorry holds Happiness' arms from behind, manipulating her like a puppet

Vanity peers through the frames of two tandems held on their back wheels, representing the lift doors

Audio Programme Text

R&D Process 2012

Everyday Hero is based on a 2012 R&D project, which explored the potential of working with blind and partially sighted participants on tandems. From this R&D emerged a world of archetypes echoing mythological legends & fairy tales. Dark scary forests & pursuite by the unknown; a three headed serpent locked in the eternal battle of which direction to take; & a blind hero with a tandem, a tall, dark figure mirroried by a waif-like blond form, analogous to the parallel worlds of imagination & reality, the internal & internal. The R&D culminated on 10th July 2012 with a public sharing. Further information & a short film HERE.

Everyday Hero is a collaboration between Artistic Director, Karen Poley, Virginia Farman, Choreographer; Tracey Hammett, Writer; Oliver Aylmer, Sound Design; and Holly Murray, Costume Designer; devised with and performed by Amelia Cavallo, Ben Driscoll, Karina Jones, Sophie Arstall, Virginia Farman and Zoe Georgallis Advice, support & audio programme Sarah Pickthall