New Beginning
by Variable Matter
Director & Designer: David Shearing
Music & Spatial Sound Design: James Bulley
2025
60 minute performance work
14.1 Surround Sound, 24 Audience Speakers
May 2025, Grand Theatre Luxembourg, LX
August 2023, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, UK
New Beginning is a spatial performance installation by Variable Matter that explores forest ecologies and the effects of climate change upon them. The touring work features scenography by David Shearing, poetry by Zakiya Mackenzie, lighting by Joshua Gadsby, music and spatial sound design by James Bulley, voiceover by Michelle Newell, and a cast of young people specific to each performance location.
New Beginning premiered at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in August 2023 for eight performances. In May 2025 the production was restaged at The Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg for four performances in French and English, as part of the Focus Adolescence Generations season.
“All dressed in black, as if in mourning, very dignified and solemn, these young people are our whistleblowers. Their awareness awakens our own. It’s up to us to act. Message received, 10 out of 10.”
“This is performance art at the highest level. One cannot help but become overwhelmed by the originality and thoughtfulness of this production.”
Production Credits
Director & Designer: David Shearing
Executive Producer: Mathew Russell
Sound: James Bulley
Text: Zakiya McKenzie
Light: Joshua Gadsby
Digital: Lab-Meta
Video Documentation: Studio Goodluck
Design Assistant: Peiyao Wang
Young People's Assistant: James Dolan
Photography (UK): Zbigniew Kotkiewicz
Photography (LUX): Alfonso Salgueiro
Supporting Partners: Grand Theatre Luxembourg, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Royal School of Speech and Drama