Rugby League World Cup 21 Cultural Festival
Rugby League World Cup originally approached Pinwheel with the ambition for a cultural programme that would bring greater engagement and social impact across their tournament. They had brought together an excellent group of partners across the host cities, but were struggling to curate a programme which would have the creative ambition and coherent narrative to attract the significant funding needed.
At Pinwheel we devised an impactful but streamlined programme to amplify the tournament’s strapline of “The Power of Together”. Two major projects designed for maximum audience reach. One, a performance piece, would have short, sharp impact, reaching large crowds attending significant matches. The second, a poetry and public art project of long duration and large geographical spread would reach the broadest audiences across the North. Alongside this an engagement programme run through the Libraries Connected network.
We co-wrote the Arts Council England application which was successful in raising £950,000, and then we went on to deliver the festival as Creative Director and Executive Producer. In total 370,000 people experienced an element of the RLWC21 Cultural Festival.
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Power of Performance, This is Us
A spectacular outdoor dance theatre production where, across three stages, we told inspiring stories of the working class history, the electric atmosphere, and the incredible individuals of Rugby League.
Professional dancers and aerialists toured with the show to Newcastle, Hull, Manchester and Leeds, where they were joined by inclusive community casts and choirs drawn from each place.
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Power of Poetry
Artist and poet Robert Montgomery joined forces with Emergency Exit Arts and eight leading poets, to create four, striking, double-sided light poems.
The impressive mobile artworks explored themes of inclusivity, the sound of the stadium, the joy of reconnecting through sports post-lockdowns, and the dynamic nature of rugby league.
Mounted on the back of trailers, the poems journeyed across the North of England stopping off at locations in and around Rugby League World Cup host cities, from civic squares, to stadiums, libraries and local rugby league clubs.
The Rugby League World Cup Cultural Festival was directed and produced by Pinwheel and generously funded with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and delivered in partnership with Newcastle City Council, Hull City Council, Leeds 2023, North of Tyne Combined Authority and Libraries Connected.
#RLWC2021 #ThePowerOfTogether
Creative Team:
Katy Fuller – Creative Director
Power of Performance:
Robby Graham – Director • Simon Sharkey – Writer • Roma Yagnik – Composer • Chris Full – Sound Designer • Rebecca Brower – Set Designer • Jennifer Patterson – Aerial Advisor
Power of Poetry:
Created by Robert Montgomery and Emergency Exit Arts in collaboration with poets:
Malika Booker • Vicky Foster • Jackie Kay • Zafar Kunial • Sinead Morrissey • Jacob Poleo • Shane Rhodes • Louise Wallwein
Delivery Team:
Dan Adams – Head of Operations
Carole Keating – Performance Producer
Catherine Sadler – Poetry Producer
Steffi Schofield – Project Coordinator
Ben Pugh – Production Manager
Yatie Aziz – Participation Manager
Della Hadingham • Chris Clay • Jenny Hutt • Charlie Mussett - Event Managers
Photography Tom Arran