Our Village: Can I Live?

A filmed performance produced by Complicité in association with the Barbican, London, supported by Oxford Playhouse

Why don't we talk about it? Fehinti Balogun asks this urgent question and offers an invitation in Can I Live?, a vital new digital performance about the climate catastrophe, sharing his personal journey into the biggest challenge of our times. Weaving his story with spoken word, rap, theatre, animation and the scientific facts, Fehinti charts a course through the fundamental issues underpinning the emergency, identifying the intimate relationship between the environmental crisis & the global struggle for social justice, and sharing how, as a young Black British man, he has found his place in the climate movement.

In the face of a sense of helplessness about the climate catastrophe, Can I Live? is an outstretched hand, inviting audiences to recognise they are not alone - and that through understanding the issues and connecting with the many powerful activists around the globe driving change, we can find a sense of hope for the future.

Supported by Arts Council England and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Conceived, written and performed by Fehinti Balogun
Director Daniel Bailey
Co-Director Simon McBurney

About the organisers

Fehinti Balogun is an actor, theatre-maker, and activist. As an actor he has worked in theatre, film, and television, with recent performances in BBC’s award-winning TV drama I May Destroy You, ITV’s Viewpoint and the original West End theatre production of Walden. Other projects include The Blue Door at Bath Theatre Royal; BBC Radio 4’s retelling of Oliver Twist and the West End production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Alongside his acting career, Fehinti delivers talks on climate change aimed at a more rounded inclusion in the conversation. As a result of these talks Fehinti has toured around London and south England discussing climate change, taking part in international climate discussions, discovering and discussing the wider climate movement and its erased work.

Complicité is an international touring theatre company based in London, led by Artistic Director and Co-founder Simon McBurney OBE. Complicité creates work that strengthens human interconnection, using the complicity between performer and audience that is at the heart of the theatrical experience. Recent work includes Beware of Pity, The Encounter, The Master and Margarita, Shun-kin and A Disappearing Number. Founded in 1983, the Company has won over 50 major theatre awards worldwide.

Alongside Simon McBurney’s work, the Company supports artists, including Fehinti Balogun, through the ‘Developed with Complicité’ strand. The Company is proactively responding to the climate and ecological emergency, and is a founder member of Culture Declares Emergency.

www.ifnotusthenwho.me / www.ourvillage.us / http://www.complicite.org / https://en.blackindigenousliberation.com/

Venue Guidance

CCA is currently operating with increased requirements due to Coronavirus. Masks and hand-sanitising are required throughout the building, and queueing for events will take place outside, so please dress for the weather. We ask that people attending events take a lateral flow test before visiting CCA. For more information, please see Venue Guidance.