Partners and Collaborators

Callout: East Music – a new project

Musicians! You’re invited to East Music: Song and Tune Exchange Session at Poplar Union on Saturday 23rd March, 4PM-6.30PM

Bring your instruments and voices along with songs or tunes from across the world to play, sing and share.

This is a free, friendly and inclusive session for players of all levels of experience – Global Majority* and LGBTQ+ music makers are particularly welcome. The session will be led by East musicians Andy Bannister, Michele Chowrimootoo and Paul Burgess.

This is a new strand of our East Storytelling project, and we hope to extend it to further sessions. All being well, there’ll also be an opportunity to share the results with a live audience later in the year.

Daedalus Theatre announce new partnership with Havering Changing

Date: 16 January 2024

Daedalus Theatre Company has been awarded Creative Community Support by Rainham Change Makers, the local Havering Changing steering group in Rainham, to deliver creative nature workshops in Rainham and Wennington this Spring 2024.

The creative nature workshops are for local adults in Rainham and Wennington with an interest in nature and a curiosity for visual arts. Together, we will work on a collective response to probing questions about nature and local green spaces that will be showcased as a mobile installation. The project will also experiment with sustainable materials and look at ecological ways of thinking. Work with the group, along with the Queens Theatre Hornchurch young company programme, will feed into our next iteration of the DYSBIOSIS project. 

The new work-in-progress project DYSBIOSIS began with an R&D at Queens Theatre Hornchurch in April 2023. Supported by Arts Council England, we delivered an R&D at Queens Theatre Hornchurch in Autumn with a group of exciting creative practitioners such as Zia Álmos Joshua and Havering local Kathryn Webb. The project seeks to explore our relationship with nature in the global north through a queer lens. 

Reflections on Dysbiosis R&D sharing by Olivia Catchpole

Theatremaker and writer Olivia Catchpole joined us for our R&D sharing at the end of the second week of R&D at Queens Theatre Hornchurch on Friday 1st December 2023. Read on to hear her thoughts on the project and her own interpretation on the meaning of Dysbiosis in relation to her own political standpoint.


Dimmed lights lend an air of expectation to the scene as we come cautiously into the room, wondering what’s in store for us. I’m wondering what “dysbiosis” means and how it might be shown. Coming in from traffic-ridden streets, I’m instantly soothed by the space that has been created, bowls of Mehndi (commonly known as henna in the West) and turmeric paste sit on the table in front of us along with offers of tea and a glimpse of treetops through the skylight. Scripts lie on the technician’s table, ready to be used.

Captures from a movement piece which depicts live video projection of organic materials and video footage by Paul Burgess onto Yael Elisheva

We’re here to see DYSBIOSIS, a piece in development by Daedalus Theatre Company in collaboration with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. The project brings local artists together with a group of mostly queer, East-London-based practitioners from a wide range of creative disciplines, to explore stories of queer ecology, colonialism and the Global North’s relationship to nature. As far as I can tell, such projects are thin on the ground in London and Essex, so I’m especially excited to see what they’ve come up with. Perhaps, I hope, the show will alleviate some of the tension I feel thinking of our collective disconnect, even disregard, for nature’s processes at such a vital time. A time of biodiversity crisis, striking the creatures which hold up the basis of our existence. A recent survey led by the RSPB found that flying insects have declined by 60% in the UK in the past twenty years. One fact in a seemingly endless stream of dire warnings. I wonder, with the familiar frustration, whether I need to explain the gravity of this situation. Not only bees are pollinators- every insect lost is the loss of a vital element of the system. Trees, plants, and animals too, are immeasurably more than just a pretty luxury. 

Artist Spotlight: Yael Elisheva

We met up with the Dysbiosis team again for a second week of R&D at Queens Theatre Hornchurch two weeks ago. Our third spotlight is on theatremaker, physical performer, drag artist, drama facilitator and many more things Yael Elisheva. They often work in Jewish spaces and use their artistic practice as a means of examining Jewish culture and religion.

Photo: Hannah Davies

What is your relationship with nature?

In my work, I play with found objects and explore how they can be used unconventionally and with multiple purposes. I grew up observing the sabbath, which gave me a strong connection to nature and rest and play. In today’s Western society – our relationship with rest is often viewed as lazy. I’d love to challenge that and offer rest as a means of rejuvenation for our planet.

How do queerness and nature intersect?

When I first heard of different animals and plants that are constantly changing genders like oysters and mushrooms, I felt so validated in my own gender expression. 

How does your heritage influence the way you view/value nature?

As a jew, I have rituals and prayers that revolve around nature and gratitude for nature. I have been specifically interested in how the Jewish sabbath embodies an attitude of rest which allows nature to rest as well. 

Were any aspects of the project new to you (e.g. devising collaboratively, doing an R&D, working with a designer-led company) and if so, what did you expect coming in?

Dysbiosis R&D Part 2 – A Quick Glimpse!

We have lots more to say about this, along with some exciting news about how we’re working with local residents. But, in the meantime, Nabeela Zaman came along to our end-of-R&D sharing and made this lovely reel.

If you want to know more about the first part of the R&D, back in March, you can read about it here.

Ten Years East: a huge thank you!

Massive thanks to our wonderfully supportive audience, to Ruksana Begum and all at A Season at Bangla Drama, to Jack Birch, John Anthony and the rest of the Rich Mix Team, to Maeve O’Neill at Rua Arts, to our sponsors and funders, and of course to all our incredible artists.

The show was filmed by Marble Sinew and photographed by A Season of Bangla Drama regular Rehan Jamil. But first, let us share the wonderful reel made by Nabeela Zaman:

Next, the official pics from Rehan:

Here’s the video of the show, filmed and edited by Marble Sinew:

Finally, some photos by Jonathan Chan and Kanatip Soonthornrak, and a picture, again by Rehan, of Shamim and Paul being presented with an award for being part of the 20th year of A Season of Bangla Drama.

Artist Spotlight: Tasnim Siddiqa Amin

Tell us about yourself and your creative practice.

I’m Tasnim, a queer Bangladeshi-British woman from East London and I am a visual artist, theatremaker and writer. I am Assistant Producer/Director for Daedalus Theatre Company. 

What does queer ecology mean to you?

I don’t do very well with long words haha but after spending a week unpacking and consistent Googling I would say queer ecology describes a critical, intersectional and decentralised approach in the way we look at how people, plants, animals and smaller organisms interact with their environment, both locally and globally.

What did you discover about yourself and the way you work during the Dysbiosis R&D week?

I discovered that I really thrive in pressured creative environments bouncing ideas of creatives from different disciplines. It dawned on me that to pursue a project you don’t need to have it all figured out, having an idea is good enough. I never knew I could work with venues this way, the way Paul was doing, to say hey I have an idea and I want to bring along a bunch of people that I’ve never met from different creative disciplines in a rehearsal room at your theatre and see what happens. 

In case you missed it, our latest newsletter…

Welcome to this quick roundup of news from Daedalus Theatre Company.

If you’ve been stuck in London these past few weeks, there’s not been much of a summer. But with September around the corner, we’ve been busy brewing some exciting projects and plans.

Ten Years East at A Season of Bangla Drama – save the date!

We’re really thrilled to announce that East Storytelling Project has been selected for this year’s A Season of Bangla Drama, with an evening of stories and songs from across the diverse cultures of East London. In line with the festival’s theme for 2023, we’ll be exploring love in its many forms. It’s also ten years since we started East, so we have a line-up of tellers and singers from across the decade. We’ll also be performing at the venue where it all began: Rich Mix in Bethnal Green.

Here’s a summary of the festival programme and for now, please save the date! Our show, Ten Years East, is on the evening of 19th November.

Artist Spotlight: Kathryn Webb

Dysbiosis: Call for Creative Practitioners

A paid opportunity to be part of an exciting new project!

We’re seeking a range of creative practitioners – from performers and theatre-makers to artists and filmmakers – to be part of making our next production. This is an opportunity to join the research and development process for a new theatre project exploring our relationship with nature. Dysbiosis (working title) will examine topics including the language we use to speak about nature, the Global North’s relationship to the natural world and queer ecology. It will also investigate greener ways of making theatre, partly building on the ideas of Ecostage.

We’re looking for practitioners to join us at Queens Theatre Hornchurch for part or all of the week of 27th March. We particularly encourage people from Outer East London and South Essex to apply. We’re interested in people from all backgrounds and at all stages of their professional careers, though experience in devising would be beneficial. We can pay artists £175 per day pro rata up to a maximum 5 days.

Express Yourself Through Stories

Do you like stories? And do you want to improve your confidence and communication? We’ve once again teamed up with the brilliant Sign For All, this time for a one-off session on storytelling for younger people. It’s a fun introduction to storytelling for BSL users and learners aged 14-18, taking place on Saturday 5th March 10.30am – 12 noon via Zoom.

The workshop will be facilitated by John Wilson, whose wide breadth of experience includes extensive work as a guide in museums, and Sef Townsend, an internationally celebrated storyteller. It will explore how we tell stories, not just with words but with our bodies, gestures and BSL.

Get in touch with Sign For All for more details.

We hope to see you there!