Flâneurs

by Jenna Watt

Flâneurs premiered as part of Summerhall's 2012 Edinburgh Fringe program during which it received a Scotsman Fringe First Award. 

In 2010, a close friend of Jenna's was attacked and mugged in London. Shocked to discover that bystanders witnessed the attack on her friend, Jenna struggles to understand what prevents witnesses of violent acts from protesting and asks whether 'one punch is enough' to provoke an intervention. Searching for answers, Jenna reflects on her own city, Edinburgh, and examines why particular urban areas gain and retain a reputation for being rough or even dangerous and asks, what can we do, if anything, to change our own psycho-geographic relationship to where we live.

Flâneurs is a touching and effecting story of friendship, violence and intervention, that explores the nature of violent acts in public spaces, from a pedestrian subway in Edinburgh to London's Overground. With first hand accounts from the Scottish Constabulary and victims of violence,  Flâneurs uses simple projections, and a little flaneuring to expose and deconstruct the social psychological phenomena known as the 'bystander effect'.

"The larger the crowd, the less likely it is that anyone will intervene."

Creative Team

Writer / perfomer: Jenna Watt
Music: Matthew Hicks
Lighting Design: Andy Gannon
Dramaturg: We Are Magpie
Producer: Gilly Roche

Previous Tour

Battersea Arts Centre - February 2014
Epic Festival : Cumbernauld Theatre 2013
Big Burns Supper : Dumfries 2013
Mayfesto : Tron Theatre 2013 
Woodend Barn : Banchory 2013
Mayfest : Bristol 2013
Word of Warning : Contact Theatre 2013
Play Pieces : Inverness 2013
Traverse Theatre : Edinburgh 2013
Summerhall - Edinburgh Fringe 2012

Supported by:

Creative Scotland, Tom Mcgrath Trust and National Theatre of Scotland.

Press

Winner Scotsman Fringe First 2012
Shortlisted for the Arches Brick Award
Longlisted for the Amnesty International Award 2012

'A richly thoughtful show [...] with a quiet sense of poetry.'
-The Scotsman 

'An affable, generous, and beguiling performance, it packs a punch.' 
-The Herald 

'A total breath of fresh air.'
-The Stage 

'A piece of theatre that is important'|
-Total Theatre 

'Jenna Watt has created an intimate, compelling hour of theatre, sincere in intent yet almost playful in execution.'
-The Public Reviews  

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