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HIGH TIDE FESTIVAL


The High Tide Festival was an R&D process in partnership with LV21 (40 metre steel-hulled lightship, moored in Gravesend) designed to support local artists and members within the mental health community to discover and explore the heritage, landscape, and untold stories of the Thames Estuary.

​“Some people live their lives sitting comfortably on a beach; watching the waves crash and building sandcastles. Some people live just on the edge of the water; occasionally drifting out onto the horizon, but never enough to stop them swimming back to the shore. And some people spend their whole lives out in the deep; treading water and trying to keep their head above the surface.”


"Our R&D process - set up in response to COVID-19 - is designed to nurture autonomy throughout this difficult time and provide opportunities to harness practical solutions for making a creative process viable, amidst a time of creative limitation and inaccessibility."

​
Artists from a variety of disciplines including puppetry, photography, music, and literature were invited to play, invent, develop, and produce a piece of work that responded creatively to the theme open water. Participating artists had five weeks to produce (from home) their idea within their chosen discipline, ready for presentation within a public exhibition, aboard LV21. Alongside the production of works, Naked Frank Theatre hosted a series of workshops and participation events to support the creative process. ​On 16th and 17th July 2021, LV21 let down their gangway to the public and invited people to climb aboard and experience the exhibition of works. Twenty three artists took part in festival with over forty original pieces of material, across eleven different mediums, on display.
"We recognise that this is a very difficult time for young creatives to kick start their careers and appreciate the need for inclusive opportunities that can support the arts industry to survive for long enough that new talent is able to thrive and make their mark. We understand the damage that extended lockdowns have had on the influence of heritage within local communities and recognise the disconnection of sites that play an essential role in making local areas diverse and culturally plentiful places to live."

​The festival itself was set out to support young artists in training and/or the early stages of their career, and mental health service-users receiving support from local Oxleas teams; by providing a safe and sustained platform to develop, refine and share their creative practice, with audiences that would otherwise have no means of experiencing their work. At the forefront of the R&D process Naked Frank Theatre wanted to aid re-engagement with local heritage sites and support the cultural revival of their appeal.
CREATIVE TEAM

​ARTISTS
Hector Huang
Chiara Scoglio
Natalie Murphy
Aimee Winch
Jack Laurent
Fabia Goff
Anon (pseudonym)
Hannah Sim
Robert
 (pseudonym)
Chris Steele
Hazel
 (pseudonym)
Lorraine Thompson
Lorraine Connor
Isk
 (pseudonym)
Matthew (pseudonym)
Michael Wickresmasinghe
Sofia De Sousa
Anthony
 (pseudonym)
Sophie Milligan
B.L
 (pseudonym)
Sam (pseudonym)
Lauren McGirr
Lilian Kemphall

PRODUCTION MANAGER
Claire Portelli

PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
Carleigh-Ann Portelli

CURATOR
Päivi Seppälä
Gary Weston
​
WORKSHOP LEADERS

Claire Portelli
Carleigh-Ann Portelli
James Rose

FILMED BY
​Digital Pie Ltd

PRODUCER
Naked Frank Theatre

VENUE
LV21

SPECIAL THANKS TO

The Erith Centre
Shelagh Day
Barefoot Lodge
Sophie Hemingway
Bracton Centre
Patsy Fung
Sherries Dancewear
Miskin Theatre
Alex Cooper
CSSD 
Cariad Astles
Rose Bruford College
Thomas Wilson
​
FUNDED BY
Arts Council England
​Kent County Council
CONTACT US
E: [email protected]

T: 07873588787
​
Picture

"We don't believe that theatre can change the world; but it can change an opinion. Change enough opinions and you might just change the world."

INFO
NAKED FRANK THEATRE
CARLEIGH-ANN PORTELLI
CLAIRE LOUISE PORTELLI
PHOTOS AND FOOTAGE
THEATRE
BUT THEN IT BEGAN...
WHO SPILT SANTA'S SECRET?
BEFORE IT STARTS
JUST IN THE SAINT NICK OF TIME
TALES OF THE MONSTERS IN MY HEAD
THE ANGEL OF DECEMBER
​PISSED OFF POETRY
​THE TRAP
FILM & VR
CATCH ME IF I FALL
​BANTER VS BULLYING
​GYRUS & THE FOREST
OUT BEYOND HER SHORE
EVENTS
MONSTER HEADS EXHIBITION
HIGH TIDE FESTIVAL
PASSIONATE POETS COMPETITION
​BETTER FUTURES
FORENSIC SERVICES
SINGING
CREATIVE WRITING
RECORDING STUDIO
S.E.A.T.S PROGRAMME

Naked Frank Theatre Ltd, Registered Company No: 12801463 © Copyright Naked Frank Theatre, 2025. All rights reserved.  
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