How Glastonbury is keeping the Churchill legacy alive
Find the Glastonbury lineup here and watch at home on the BBC
There may be throngs of paparazzi waiting for Elton John at this year’s Glastonbury, but if you fancy experiencing his heights of fame yourself, head to the festival’s Theatre & Circus fields, where a roaming group of photographers may chase you for your picture. You may also pass frozen Everest summiteers, macabre clowns and the ‘Moaning Lisa’ – a portrait with legs! – in this carnivalito patch of Worthy Farm, where cabaret plays until the small hours for those not interested in dancing to big-name DJs.
During the daytime, an Outdoor Amphitheater stage and aerial rigs host theatre and circus acts with some of the most arrestingly weird shows. You could pull up a pew, buy a pint, and spend all afternoon here (I certainly do; the Theatre & Circus fields are Glastonbury’s best-kept secret). The Fields were the passion project of Arabella Churchill, Winston’s granddaughter, who helped found Glastonbury festival 50 years ago, convincing Michael Eavis that hosting hundreds of thousands on his farm wasn’t a mad idea but one that would foster creative thinking and community spirit.
In 2012 Jade Dunbar, manager of the Circus Big Top, set up the Glastonbury Arts Commissions to provide funding, support and direction to rising artists who could use the festival – and its big audiences – to hone their craft. The Commissions was a project Arabella – known as Bella to those who worked with her, until her passing in 2007 – was incredibly passionate about. There are nine theatre and circus acts given help by the Glastonbury Arts Commissions for 2023, the highest number the festival has ever had. The model means that Glastonbury Festival commits to contributing the same amount of money to creatives as the Arts Council does.
“Arabella was like the First Lady of Glastonbury,” says Jade Dunbar, stage manager at Circus Big Top and Glastonbury Arts Commission mentor, who worked with Bella. In the noughties, Churchill and Dunbar devised the idea of the Glastonbury Arts Commissions, before Churchill passed away from cancer in 2007. “The conversation was really about how we can develop and nurture and use Glastonbury to bring new works forward,” says Dunbar. “Bella was always one for supporting the Underdog but also supporting new work. Michael Eavis has also always very much supported allowing creativity to blossom.”
“Having the Glastonbury Arts Commission’s support has helped rehearsals, writing and getting artists on board,” says Rupert Oldridge of Beatbox Collective, one of the this year’s commissions, who are staging a mass sing-a-long in the Theatre & Circus fields. “Its incredibly helpful having an experienced team guide us to the right expectations and planning for how to prepare. The rest is up to us and whoever may turn up!”
Ajay Chhabra, co artistic director off Nutkhut, a South Asian multidisciplinary arts company, says the “stifling current climate” of the arts and arts funding means there are not enough opportunities for creatives to freely experiment. “Opportunities to sometimes fail and then to pick yourself up are missing,” he says. “This opportunity allows for openness in thought, and allows for artists like us, from all different parts of the world, with multi-heritage, often trilingual backgrounds, to share and create in a supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere.”
Chhabra remembers working with the “kind and generous” Bella Churchill in the noughties. “At our first Glastonbury she encouraged Michael Eavis and family to come and see our act,” he remembers. “That was nerve racking, but we are so happy it happened. We believe in family and Glastonbury is one special family.” These days, Bella’s widower Haggis McLeod, a world-famous juggler, runs the Theatre & Circus fields alongside his daughter Jessica Churchill-McLeod. There are hundreds of acts in both indoor and outdoor venues and the Theatre & Circus arena is one of the few areas of the festival that runs full programming for five days, from Thursday through to Sunday. Below are three of the Glastonbury Arts Commissions to catch.
VICTORIA GUGENHEIM Award-winning body painter, fine artist, activist and educator Victoria Gugenheim has appeared on Channel 4, in an exhibition at the Science Museum and even worked on the make-up in the most recent James Bond film, No Time To Die. At Glastonbury she will create a new immersive piece of art, creating live body art, with poetry readings. “I’m feeling electric about it,” Gugenheim says. “Without the Glastonbury Arts Commission, The Great Somatic Poetry Bodyart Experience would not have been created. It’s vital for artists. Vital for the lifeblood of the Glastonbury arts community.”
BEATBOX COLLECTIVE On Sunday on the Sensation Seekers stage in the Theatre & Circus fields Beatbox Collective will be getting festivalgoers involved in creating “the biggest body of voice Glastonbury has heard.” The group are telling people to just turn up and the rest will fall into place. “Learn a new skill that you can take anywhere. It just requires the voice and the imagination,” they say. The Collective are aiming to get more “recognition for beatboxing as an art form, as something accessible for everyone to join. We believe every sound is a good sound and deserves a platform to express it. What better place to do it than Glastonbury festival.”
POCKETS OF POWER Theatre troupe Scary Little Girls promise a potted history of pockets with their show Pockets of Power, which incorporates song, magic and comedy to the Glastonbury lineup. There’s a late-night version in Theatre & Circus’ Mavericks venue too. “We’ve got some of the most stunning costumes and daftest props – you just need to find a corner of a field for a final dress run!” says artistic director Rebecca Mordan. “It’ll be a delight in the sun, but more challenging if it rains. We are really excited to be bringing the story of radical clothing invention, feminist textiles and the power of pockets to the world’s finest festival.
See the full Glastonbury lineup on the website; watch highlights all weekend on the BBC