Common Wealth – Fast, Fast, Slow

Working with community co-creators from East Lancashire, Common Wealth Theatre presented Fast, Fast, Slow, an interactive catwalk performance that takes the audience on a journey through our relationship to fashion, from Burnley to Ghana.

Fast, Fast, Slow was a unique performance exploring the complexity of our personal relationships to fashion, fast fashion and waste. With a catwalk as its centre-piece, Fast, Fast, Slow showcased concept collections from six co-creators from Blackburn and Burnley and collaborators from The Revival in Accra, Ghana, a community-led sustainable design and campaigning organisation. Wear it once, wear forever, body dysmorphia and urban protection, clothing is many things to many people.

Fast, Fast, Slow featured a catwalk made from used clothing bales, video art, cinematic lighting, bold choreography and a specially commissioned electronic score. The audience was seated on on either side of the catwalk, VIP style as part of this high fashion event. The performance was both local and global, personal and political and zoomed out to explore the impact of fast fashion and the dynamics of place and power.

This project was co-commissioned with British British Textile Biennial.

Credits:

Director – Evie Manning

Creative Producers – Ezra Nash and May McQuade

Designer – Sascha Gilmour

Co-creators – Saba Iftikhar, Carl Walker, Ume Habiba, Eloise Crossley, Aneesah Rashid, Chloe Northlight

The Revival Co-Creators – Kwamena Boison and Yayra Agbofa

Film by Director Banini and Crew (Producer – Ibrahim Adu, Sound – Fortunate Ayieb, Camera Assistant – Benjamin Adjei, Drone – Kwame Isaac Ayinsu, Runner – King Faisal)

Choreographer – Darren Pritchard

Assistant Choreographer – May McQuade

Dramaturg – Sarah Thom

Composer and Video Design- Wojciech Rusin

Lighting Designer – Andy Purves

Production Manager – Matt Sykes Hooban

Technician – Conal Walsh

Sound Technician – Tom Robbins

Assistant Producers – Saoirse Teale and Mariyah Kayat

Common Wealth Executive Director – Ali Duncan

Supported by Bradford Metropolitan District Council