Female-run and South London based theatre company, Dropped Tea, today announce their 2022 KNOCK DOWN project: KNOCK DOWN – Brixton, a site-specific performance promenade in collaboration with the brand-new theatre Brixton House, located in the heart of Brixton’s local community – a place for artists and audiences to enjoy and create experiences in their new home.
A collaboration between local talent and local businesses, KNOCK DOWN – Brixton will explore the memories, stories and experiences of those who call Brixton home, with a focus on London’s ever-changing urban landscape, gentrification and community dissolution, through vivid performance work and locally commissioned artists.
Featuring performances from five London-based creatives, KNOCK DOWN – Brixton will run from 7 – 9 October across five iconic Brixton venues, including Lambeth Town Hall, Black Cultural Archives, The Ritzy, Round Table Books (Brixton Village) and Brixton House.
Featuring the likes of acclaimed Michael Balogun, Alex Wheatle, Thea Gajic, Sola Olulode and Jennelle Recce-Gardner, five prominent creatives will perform short pieces exploring their relationship to the area they grew up in across a variety of disciplines.
Ever-innovative with their theatrical lens, KNOCK DOWN – Brixton will see audiences physically journey across Brixton, moving from one venue to another together – soaking in Brixton’s history, spirit and culture between performances in a carousel-style experience. The project is directed by actor and director, Rebekah Murrell.
Born and bred South Londoners, Dropped Tea Theatre has seen Brixton drastically change in recent years. KNOCK DOWN – Brixton is more than a performance project – it’s an effort to hold onto the people who comprise Brixton, to celebrate their stories, and to maintain their memories and communities in a time where it feels like they’re being ignored or forgotten.
Dropped Tea Theatre said, ‘Brixton is an area full of incredibly important history, people and stories. We are so excited to be taking KNOCK DOWN there this year and hope to bring celebration, conversation and community to the local spaces.’
KNOCK DOWN – Brixton Director, Rebekah Murrell, said, ‘Dropped Tea is back again with a follow up to the incredible KNOCK DOWN – Peckham project. This project feels like a love letter to Brixton. It’s a place we all know is changing rapidly, so it’s both profound and joyous to be able to celebrate what it means for this group of spaces, and incredible artists, who know it best and care deeply for it. I’m really excited to help create that journey for and with these artists and audiences.’
Brixton House’s Gbolahan Obisesan, Artistic Director and Joint CEO, said: ‘KNOCK DOWN is an exciting and empowering showcase of local talent. Local artists are being given the opportunity to be reflective and playful, to spotlight unique spaces, and foreground the strength of our emotional connections to the environments that nurtured us. Working with Dropped Tea allows Brixton House to collaborate with artists in a new way that celebrates cultural memories, and the Brixton community. As a venue, we are proud to be partnering with Lambeth Town Hall, Black Cultural Archives, The Ritzy and Round Table Books, to present this distinctive promenade experience for the community, with local artists at the heart of its realisation and delivery.’
Performances: 7, 8, 9 OCTOBER 2022
Performance times: 13:00, 15:30, 18:00 and 20:30
Admission: £15, £12
Book: https://brixtonhouse.co.uk/shows/knock-down/
