The Weather Station is an exciting participatory project linked to our show 'Last Night I Met You Dreaming'. 30 young people from Southwark and 13 students from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts will come together with Fit to Burst artists to design and create an exciting interactive installation in a pop-up shop on Peckham High Street and a series of happenings to be performed along Rye Lane inspired by the themes of the show.

Project Aims:

- For young people/students to have an exciting, engaging and confidence building experience working with Fit to Burst artists, to express their creativity, realise their potential and have a positive presence on the high street
- To reach community members who might not otherwise come to the theatre through the installation and pop-up performance/s
- To create excitement, fun and magic on the high-street for everyone

These activities directly link to our production which opens at the Bussey Building.

What we'll deliver:

• Create a link between the high street and the local theatre.
• Create a series of short street theatre performances in surprising locations along the high street.
• Create an exciting interactive installation in a pop-up shop on Peckham High Street.
• Create magic, fun and excitement the high street through high quality arts activity.
• Provide discounted theatre tickets for local residents.

Why it's a great idea:

Peckham has a fast growing cultural quarter which is not accessed by the majority of residents. This creates a feeling of division and segregation.

We will:

-Bring magic and art to the high street for everyone by creating high quality arts activity with and for local people increasing access across social divides.
-Increase wider access to culture for everyone by linking these activities to the local theatre thereby developing their reach.
-Create a confidence building experience for local young people that gives them a stake in their area, an opportunity to develop their talents and a positive presence in their community.
-Provide performance opportunities for students providing them with a powerful portfolio from which to promote themselves in their profession on graduating.
-Draw new people in to the area, create a positive buzz and create a sense of pride, excitement and fun on the high street.

Steps to get it done:

• Fit to Burst staff will sell discounted tickets for local residents from a laptop in the shop.
• Our designer will then design the installation/source materials and start to create it in the shop.
• Young people, students and artists will come together to finish the build of the installation/rehearse performances.
• All project participants will receive subsidised tickets for our theatre production.
• Performances will take place on the high street on the 6th of June and the installation will open and run for a week.
• Permissions will be gained for performances in public space through Southwark Council.
• Run a week of workshops with young people through Southwark Youth Service to design the installation/performances.
• We will have a production manager in place to manage the team and oversee the activities in the shop.
• We will rent the pop-up shop through regeneration organisation The Means.
• We will run a social media campaign and link with local traders/press and social enterprises to market our activities.
• Work with ALRA students to create short performances to animate the installation space.

Feb: Introductory workshop with ALRA students
6th - 10th April (Easter Holiday): 5 days performance workshops/ 5 days design workshops
April/May: Performance creation with ALRA students/Installation design and sourcing
18th May - 13th of June: Hire of pop-up shop for build/workshops/installation
25th - 29th May (May Half Term): 5 days rehearsal/ 5 days build
6th June: Performance/s
6th - 13th June: Installation opens to the public

Arts excellence for everyone is at the centre of Fit to Burst’s philosophy. We aim to engage people from all walks of life with our work through workshops, innovative participatory projects and performances in public spaces

More info on our show 'Last Night I Met You Dreaming' can be found here http://fittoburst.co.uk/last-night-i-met-you-dreaming/.