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London’s spectacular free outdoor Greenwich + Docklands International Festival is back for 2023.
The free line-up once again features the sort of spectacular installations that have become its hallmark since the pandemic moved the focus away from street theatre, notably ‘Cygnus’ by Denis Bivour and Florian Giefer, which will see illuminated animatronic swans fill the Thames at the Royal Docks (Aug 31-Sep 3).
But a more theatrical element returns with ‘The Architect’ (Sep 6-10), a bus tour around south east London featuring a series of playlets reflecting on the legacy of Stephen Lawrence, the Black London schoolboy with dreams of becoming an architect who was murdered 30 years ago.
Other highlights include festival opener ‘Open Lines’ (Aug 25), a stunning tight-rope act General Gordon Square, Woolwich; ‘Sliding Slope’ (Sep 2 and 3), a dance piece performed on the roof of a submerged house; and the return of GDIF regulars Greenwich Fair (a big Greenwich-wide family fun day on Aug 26) and Dancing City (two days of dance shows in The City, Sep 9 and 10), while dance work ‘Resurgam’ is a spectacular dance work that will take place on the front of St Paul’s Cathedral Aug 31-Sep 2)