The second iteration of an immersive playground experience crafted entirely from reclaimed materials from shows is being hosted by the Southbank Centre.
REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground allows infants to unleash their imagination in a space constructed entirely out of props and set pieces which were previously used in theatrical productions and fashion runways.
Hull-based production company The Herd first staged REPLAY in 2023 after Southbank commissioned an audience-led production from them, and is running again at the same venue as part of Southbank’s ‘Spring Family Fun’ programme.
The Herd co-artistic director Sam Caseley said: “We’ve worked really hard to empower and delight parents and carers as well as the children so that they feel like they can have a good time in that space with their child.
“Because we work across the arts and the entertainment industries, and we understand that in a lot of these worlds there’s an inherent waste because stuff pops up and then gets taken down.
“A fashion show can last a day and it can cost however much money and materials to build.”
Caseley added the team, spearheaded by him, Ruby Thompson, and Rūta Irbīte, wanted to create a piece which had responsibility at its heart, particularly in the age of the climate crisis.
One of the most integral features of the physical space, the curved panels which adorn the walls, were taken from a Steve McQueen runway show.
The accumulated objects then underwent what they described as an artistic reintervention, as the team adapted them to be safe for use by children.
Caseley linked the process of reclaiming physical materials to the way in which children reclaim objects in their own imagination, which formed the key tenet of the project.
The experience also features a soundtrack composed by him using what he termed reclaimed sounds taken from the Southbank building, including the sound of the ticket machine and the lift.
The experience lasts just under an hour, and begins with an explanation of the piece’s message of reclaiming, before revealing the playground space to the audience members.
Caseley said: “That moment is super magic, and you get a real sort of shock and wonder from parents and children alike.
“You feel that kind of excited energy and it just feeds into the whole thing.”
The experience ends with the children returning the objects to their colour-coordinated homes as a countdown plays, so the cycle of play can begin again, reinforcing the show’s message of cyclicity and looking after spaces.
In the autumn, REPLAY will head to Bradford as part of its City of Culture programming, before returning to the Southbank Centre for the first half of 2026.
Caseley hopes the project will eventually find a permanent venue in the company’s home city of Hull.
REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground is playing until 1 June.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/replay-a-limitless-recycled-playground
Picture credit: Pete Woodhead
