Happy Days

At last, a hot sunny summer day and on a Sunday for all to enjoy. I managed a bit of work as well, before I set off for the Brunel Goods Shed again.

Today was the last chance to catch a performance in the Goods Shed of 'The Children of Modernity', a presentation by the 'Stand and Stare Collective'. You can see their photo here.

Stand + Stare create immersive theatre in which their audiences play an active part. They are committed to writing new stories and enjoy collaborating with a broad spectrum of artists from different disciplines to create large-scale site-specific shows, small intimate pieces and commercial commissions.

I have been recording the various uses of the Shed, since we have leased the building to the Stroud Valleys Artspace, and today was the last day of the Site'11 Festival which has had numerous events all around Stroud and its five valleys.

This tent was erected inside the enormous internal space of the Goods Shed with room for eight people at a time to experience the event.

I didn't have time to stay to watch the show, so can't tell you much more about it, but their website describes the event as follows:

Rossie Heath was monochromatically colour blind from birth. On 14th June 1972 a miracle occurred. She dived into a lake and emerged from the crystal waters into a new world of colour. She was healed and The Children of Modernity was born.

Stand + Stare invites you to visit the commune and spend time in Rossie's tent. Explore, interact, and uncover the truth about the girl behind the miracle.

'Reminds me of the treasure hunts my dad used to create for me as a kid.' (an audience member)

'Being submerged in the set and interacting in the story makes it feel very real and very emotional. Beautiful. And the beans do feel very nice.' (an audience member)


This family allowed me to take their picture just as they sat down for the beginning of the show. You can see how excited this boy is. He had been running around inside the Shed for several minutes and he and the other children loved being inside the building as it is so unusual. Another family was sitting on the other side of the tent with four more children.