Summer 1858: The Big Stink. London’s rivers filled with sewage and the House of Commons was forced to stop sitting because of the smell from the Thames. In the ensuing decades, modern London started to take shape as the environmental catastrophe engulfing the City forced the pace of change. During the first underground work to create a modern sewer system, many of London’s rivers were encased in concrete and disappeared from view.
Summer 2014: London faces up to the need to its growing population, renovating the aging 19th century sewerage system. As the new ‘Super Sewer’ is created, a forgotten world of underground rivers and ancient tunnels, buried 154 years ago, is revealed
Source is a show created and delivered by Cirque Bijou and Nutkhut. It is a legacy project from, Showtime, London’s largest outdoor street arts festival. Circulate is a consortium of venues: arts depot, The Albany, Harrow Arts Centre, Millfield Theatre, Tara Arts and Watermans and together commissioned Source.