A book documenting ideas, feelings and stories for the future.
In our performance installation THIS IS WHAT UTOPIA LOOKS LIKE, audience members were invited to imagine a liveable future and share their responses on postcards with prompts:
What If....
Share a story for a liveable future
How will it feel when it all turns out ok?
We've carefully curated a publication documenting these responses, from over 200 postcards gathered in performances since 2024. Together, they form a new narrative, a new story for the future. As a reader, we invite you to add your own ideas to the book, as we continue to grow our archive of hope.
£10 each (all proceeds support ShyBairn's future work)
Printed sustainably on recycled paper
Delivered to UK addresses - an online version is also available, contact us if you'd like to access it.
If you would like to order but can't afford a copy at present, please drop us an email and we will happily support.
If you have any questions please email: shybairntheatre@gmail.com
THIS IS WHAT UTOPIA LOOKS LIKE
What if bricks were made from mushrooms, cities were built like a sponge, and children’s ideas made a difference? How would it feel if it all turned out ok?
Awareness of the climate crisis & its impacts has grown hugely in recent years. Yet the focus is on the horrors that unfold if we stick with the status quo. Unearthing these horrors isn’t igniting change fast enough; we think it’s time for a different approach focussed on hope, optimism and big ideas.
Meet a performer, close your eyes and experience a guided visualisation. Listen through headphones to a cycle of climate good news. Follow paths and roots of reused materials to create a landscape. Share a story for a liveable future on a postcard and add it to our growing archive of hope.
The future might not be in front of us after all; maybe it’s behind, within or between things.
Supported by Arts Council England 2026. Recipient of Camden People's Theatre's Outside The Box Commission 2022. Supported by the Royal Victoria Hall Foundation and The University of St Andrews' Impact and Innovation Fund 2024.
"An oasis of hope against a backdrop of political despair"
Audience Member
"A bit of euphoria"
Audience Member
"I felt so inspired after today, ready to take on whatever I can"
Audience Member
