The Freedom Game

From 2014-15, Katie was commissioned by Surrey Arts to choreograph their community opera, The Freedom Game, which was written to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. The opera was composed by Hannah Conway, with a libretto by Sir Richard Stilgoe and was directed by Karen Gillingham. Katie also worked with Associate Choreographer Hannah Batley.

The Freedom Game was performed for the first time at the Royal Albert Hall on 12th May 2015 by over 1000 Surrey residents, watched by an audience of over 3000 people. A scaled-down version of the opera was also performed at the International Commemoration Event at Runnymede, attended by the Queen.

Performers were drawn from across Surrey and included members of Epsom Youth Theatre, Zambesi Dance Company, Freewheelers Theatre Company, The Orpheus Centre, The Yvonne Arnaud Youth Theatre as well as many Surrey schools who performed in a mass chorus. Music was provided by The Surrey Community Orchestra and Chamber Choir which consisted of members for the Surrey County Youth and Wind Orchestras and Surrey Youth Choir.

Watch the documentary film about the making of The Freedom Game here.

The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
The Freedom Game; photo by Andy Newbold
Without a doubt 'The Freedom Game' is like no other piece I shall experience all year. Its unique selling point is that it is a community opera involving literally thousands of people from various schools, choirs and other organisations in Surrey, but it does not survive on that fact alone. It works because the idea is innovative, the music clever, and the choreography deliberately geared to creating strong visual effects through co-ordinating huge numbers of people.
Sam Smith, musicomh.com,
The dance routines in the arena involved adults and children of all ages, and worked well for two reasons. On the one hand, they were clearly choreographed (by Katie Green and Hannah Batley) to create mass effects that did not necessarily depend on every dancer being perfect the entire time. On the other, it was obvious that the cast was talented and had been well rehearsed so that the standard of performance was very high.
Sam Smith, musicomh.com,

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Join our mailing list