Friday 24th September saw the first of two performances from Activate as part of the finale for the Inside Out Dorset Arts Festival. Crowds of people gathered in the Swannery car park as dusk fell to watch the amazing drummers of Worldbeaters as the search for Baby Dundu and gentle giant Dundu began. The drummers and puppets were illuminated and offered a striking performance to the backdrop of the Swannery Lake, along the promenade and down to the Jubilee Clock.
Moving through the town to beats inspired by the West African Kora, the mesmerizing puppets and drummers told the story of the two illuminated Dundu figures.
Concluding at Weymouth’s Jubilee Clock, observers saw a spectacular finale to the backdrop of Weymouth Bay.
Dawn Rondeau, We Are Weymouth (BID) Manager comments: “Sense of Unity really struck a chord with us all here at We Are Weymouth. After so much time apart in recent months, we wanted to bring a sense of community back to our events, and do everything we can to support our local businesses.
With so many people attending just on the first night we know that businesses will have benefitted from this spectacular event moving through the town.
We have been blown away by attendance, the performance itself and the wonderful feedback we have had from locals.”
In build up to this stunning Sense of Unity finale, Activate hosted a series of twelve workshops across Weymouth and Portland giving residents an opportunity to try their hand at making puppets to represent their communities and then put them into action by creating their own puppet theatre scenes.
Caroline Suri, Activate Producer – Theatre, Education & Engagement comments: “We wanted to make a link between Sense of Unity and the sense of community in Weymouth and Portland, to help bring people together after we’ve all been kept apart for such a long time. We provided hot meals on many of the sessions and worked with the town council to reach out to under-represented communities.”
