The Public House is a week-long event of installations, performances and choreographic experiments inside an empty shop unit in Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre. With the help of design trio Wignall & Moore and visual artist Anna Sikorska, Hiru Dance Organisation are transforming a large shop front into a furnished living room which will act both as a performance space and a welcoming environment to sit down with a cup of tea. The Public House will host five day-long artist residencies and one evening programme, performed on six consecutive nights. Free tea and biscuits will be served all day and there will be drinks in the evenings.
The Public House gives the shoppers and commuters passing through Elephant & Castle a diversion from their retail excursions or daily commute and a friendly environment to engage with contemporary performance.
The line-up of artists at The Public House includes graduates from Laban, Lewisham College, London Contemporary Dance School, Northern School of Contemporary Dance and Roehampton University, whose work has been seen at Barbican Centre, Chelsea Theatre, Chisenhale Dance Space, Hannah Barry Gallery, RichMIx, Southbank Centre, Siobhan Davies Studios and The Place.
The Public House is part of the Southwark and Lambeth A-Z of Dance and the South London Big Dance programme, led by Siobhan Davies Dance.