WELL (2015)
Sanofi Pharmaceutical Factory Dagenham
The former Sanofi pharmaceutical factory in Dagenham East closed in 2013 after 79 years was the setting for Well, an hour-long performance journey which celebrated the life of the former factory and those who worked in it, re-energising its empty spaces with memories and stories.
Well entwined the story of the factory (which opened as May & Baker in 1934) with the history of medicine, apothecaries and chemists, the discovery of new drugs and the desire to create a better world and make people well.
The empty building is asleep and dreaming of its past. Half-opened doors reveal moments of medicine’s history. A choir of chemists sing an A capella lullaby of periodic tables, tablets and pills pour into an empty space, video images inhabit metal cabinets and the scientists’ white coats hang ready for the day’s work.
Commissioned by Creative Barking and Dagenham (CBD), Well was a genuine collaboration with the local community. Its 170 performers included former Sanofi employees, students from Barking and Dagenham College, ballroom dancing couples, choirs, line dancers, contemporary dance groups and gardeners. The factory inspired love and happy memories from its ex-employees.
Well was a Landmark Commission from Creative Barking and Dagenham supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and an Artsworks Development Grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Presented in association with SOG, Londoneast-UK and the Broadway Theatre Barking.
The former Sanofi pharmaceutical factory in Dagenham East closed in 2013 after 79 years was the setting for Well, an hour-long performance journey which celebrated the life of the former factory and those who worked in it, re-energising its empty spaces with memories and stories.
Well entwined the story of the factory (which opened as May & Baker in 1934) with the history of medicine, apothecaries and chemists, the discovery of new drugs and the desire to create a better world and make people well.
The empty building is asleep and dreaming of its past. Half-opened doors reveal moments of medicine’s history. A choir of chemists sing an A capella lullaby of periodic tables, tablets and pills pour into an empty space, video images inhabit metal cabinets and the scientists’ white coats hang ready for the day’s work.
Commissioned by Creative Barking and Dagenham (CBD), Well was a genuine collaboration with the local community. Its 170 performers included former Sanofi employees, students from Barking and Dagenham College, ballroom dancing couples, choirs, line dancers, contemporary dance groups and gardeners. The factory inspired love and happy memories from its ex-employees.
Well was a Landmark Commission from Creative Barking and Dagenham supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and an Artsworks Development Grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Presented in association with SOG, Londoneast-UK and the Broadway Theatre Barking.
