ATTN: Plight of the Bumblebee

Ready, Set, S’WARM!

S’warm Launch Battersea Power Station, Wednesday 18th August 2010

They Say:

“Inspired by the recent demise of the worlds’ bee population, S’warm showcases 500 National Youth Theatre members swarming around… S’warm starts it’s ecological journey at Battersewa Power Station, with an additional cast of 300 first-time ‘flash swarmers’”

We Say:

“This was the opening night of S’warm…and bloody good it was too!”

Loserville was more than a little confused – we had been led into a moonscape-like ‘set’ in front of Battersea Power Station by an orange-clad (the colour, not the fruit) ‘tourguide’ who seemed insistent on leading us past a series of crazed NYT members dressed mostly in white and occasionally proclaiming “there is shit everywhere!” and other such mutterings.

“INTERESTING!” we thought. “They’re clearly mad and belong in an asylum, but they’re already wearing the white jackets… hmmm”

But no, this wasn’t some mad dream about an unfilmed Stanley Kubrick film, or even a particularly zany trip. This was the opening night of S’warm, the first part of a planned ‘Environmental Trilogy’ to be produced by the National Youth Theatre in the run up to 2012. And bloody good it was too. Loserville loves nothing more than a bit of group chanting and manic running around. We got plenty of both, and lapped it up.

Oh, The Message:

Over five days, S’warm will wind an ecological journey from London’s most iconic disused power station, along the South Bank and through The City, before eventually winding up in Canary Wharf on Sunday with a premiere of S’warm: The Film.

S’warm is a London-wide initiative, aimed at encouraging Londoners to play their part in saving the dwindling bee population. The centre piece of this initiative, supported by a £400,000 environmental fund from The Peter De Haan Charitable Trust, is to plant 150,000 flowers in gardens across London in the space of a week

_

“A race against time and global warming in a bid for power and pollination”

Where:

Thursday 19th - Along the Southbank

Friday 20th – The City

Saturday 21st - Greenwich Park/National History Museum

Sunday 22nd – Canary Wharf

To follow the journey of S’warm on film, click here.

To apply to the S’warm Environmental Challenge Fund, click here.

To find out what else the NYT are up to, check our post here.

PS. Catherine Tate was there too.