Camden People’s Theatre and ODAC announce the recipients of the Camden NoW! Commission
Camden Now! is the first iteration of a new partnership, ‘Developed on Drummond Street’, between friends and neighbours ODAC and Camden People’s Theatre, which will explore new ways of making work in Camden, with and for Camden residents.
Camden NoW! offers a substantial cash commission (£10,000) and package of support to artists resident in Camden with projects that could benefit from a fast-track to full production - those, for example, with stories which need to be told, now. Back in May, we issued an open call for applications.
The full commissioned has been awarded to Olivia Dowd & Chloe Christian, who are exploring the closure of Camden’s and London’s queer spaces, and excavating the lesser-known history of the Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group. Their production will premiere at CPT this December.
Two further projects will receive a smaller development commission (£3000), working towards performances in the future. Emily Momoh will be seed-commissioned to R&D a project about the 18th-century street performer Billy Waters, and Munotida Chinyanga will look at how co-creation and tech-innovative practice can bring the work she does internationally back to Camden.
The commission and development commissions offer money, professional development support, much-needed rehearsal space, mentoring from the CPT and ODAC, and the use of CPT’s black-box studio theatre for sharings and performances.
For CPT, this project is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
The Camden NoW! commission
About the show
From 1987 to 1995, Euston was home to the Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group. So why have we never heard of it?! The Centre’s records are kept at The Glasgow Women’s Library - 555 km away. 60% of London’s queer spaces have closed in the past decade. Camden Borough’s free spaces - essential for marginalised groups as places to gather and share - have been decimated by fires, mandatory pricing and gates.
In a city where our histories are not saved and it is hard to meet our predecessors, archiving becomes political.
In partnership with Camden People’s Theatre and Old Diorama Arts Centre, Chloe Christian (COCK Associate Director, Director for New Diorama/Finborough Theatre/VAULT Fest) and Olivia Dowd (Macbeth, Garrick Theatre; Director for Minutes, BFI Flare & LA Outfest 2022 Official Selection) will explore what ‘progress’ means, and what stories are we missing by being unable to gather freely?
About Olivia Dowd & Chloe Christian
Olivia is a queer actor/creative. She trained with the NYT Rep Company, with which she played Macbeth on the West End (Garrick) and developed devising skills with Josh Azouz, Ned Bennett and Meghan Doyle. She also trained in improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade which informed the creative process of ‘Minutes’ (BFI Flare and Outfest LA), her first short film co-created with collaborator, Alix Eve.
She recently won ‘Best Performance in a Drama’ for ‘Embers’ at the Kino Film Festival and has just appeared in ‘How To Build a Wax Figure’ at the Assembly Studios at the Edinburgh fringe. In her spare time she runs creative retreats, connecting people with nature.
Chloe is a Queer multidisciplinary director/devisor working in theatre, film and opera. As a Director, her work has been performed at Ed Fringe, VAULT Fest, Finborough Theatre and New Diorama, and supported by Third Angel, Fourth Monkey, and Sheffield Theatres. She has been a Staff Director to English National Opera since 2018. Recently, she was Associate Director to Marianne Elliott on COCK (West End Premier), and has previously Assisted Emma Rice, Daniel Evans, and Richard Jones.
…and two development commissions
Emily Momoh
Emily Momoh is an independent Camden Community Activist, with a background in the performing arts. Her work involves planning and developing cultural, educational, and creative programmes for local community groups. She has worked with several arts, and cultural organisations including the V & A museum, Roundhouse Studios, Swiss Gallery, and the British Museum. Emily is curator of the 'We Were Here’ black history exhibition commissioned by Camden in 2021, and the founder of the Camden Black British History project, to be launched in October 2022.
Emily will be developing a project which commemorates the bicentenary of the death in 1823 of Billy Waters, an African, who was a disabled street performer working on the Strand, and in St Giles, Camden.
He served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and lost a leg in an accident at sea. He became a well-known busker singing and playing his violin, entertaining crowds outside the Drury Lane and Adelphi theatres. Waters lived in the notorious rookery of St Giles-in-the-Fields. His flamboyant performances drew a lot of attention and he became a celebrity in London in the early 1800s. However, despite surviving many challenges in life through his own inventiveness and enterprise, he was ultimately exploited for his celebrity and died penniless. The play depicts Billy Waters’ life and legend.
Munotida Chinyanga / state of the [art]
Munotida Chinyanga is an Anti-Disciplinary Practitioner and Experience Designer creating work primarily through Direction and Sound Design. She’s co-artistic director of the international arts collective, state of the [art]. Her practice focusing on experimenting with ways to empower audiences to become active spectators and contribute to creative processes. Investigating how theatre/ performance and sonic art can facilitate the bringing together of a community.
Working on ways we can mediate dialogue that is cross cultural. Munotida studied BA & MA in Theatre Arts at Middlesex University focusing on Multidisciplinary practices, Sonic Art and International Collaboration. She has worked at venues such as; Omnibus Theatre, The Young Vic, The Gate theatre, Royal Exchange Manchester, CLEANBREAK. She was assistant director to Kwame Kwei-Armah (Artistic Director of the Young Vic) on Tree (2019), premiering at Manchester’s International Festival.
We'll work with Tida to consider how she can root her practice - which involves ambitious co-creation, tech integration and work in Italy, China and India - within the local Camden community. CPT and ODAC will support Tida to develop her company model and processes with space to R&D and experiment.
We’re delighted to support these Camden-based projects! Can’t wait to have the artists around the centre and see what they make.
