GDIF 2026: CHAIR! – Queen’s Square, London

Geraldine Pilgrim encourages us to rebel against increasingly hostile urban planning in CHAIR!, on as part of this year’s Greenwich + Docklands International Festival.

CHAIR!

As one of my more local arts festivals, I very much enjoy going to the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (GDIF) each year. I’ve been able to experience programming as diverse as an approximation of the Northern Lights at Greenwich, theatre about an automotive subculture in a carpark at Here East, and impressions of endangered animals in the grounds of a demolished manor house. I really recommend you check it out (here), especially as a lot of the programming is free and accessible. If you’re quick, there are plenty of events taking place this weekend, 5-6 September.

But we are here to talk about the performance I saw at GDIF 2026, Geraldine Pilgrim’s CHAIR! Pilgrim has long been a champion of site-sympathetic work. She weaves the architecture and history of a place into each production, and transforms local spaces often, as in this case, with the participation of local people.

CHAIR! centres on the question “When did our public seating disappear?” and asks what might happen if it came back. It’s a valid question. Britain was once at the forefront of human-centric urban planning. Think the Garden City movement, or the New Towns Act of 1946. In recent decades, this approach has been eroded by deregulation and the fragmentation of town planning. On the one hand, new housing by private companies seems to spring up with no regard for the infrastructure required to support a community. On the other hand, where public furniture does exist, ‘hostile architecture’ designed to ensure it’s not comfortable enough to attract unhoused people means it’s not comfortable for any of us.

Excuse my little rant there. The Urban Geographer must be rubbing off on me. What this does tell us is that Pilgrim’s question is a valid one, and one which affects us all.

When Did Our Public Seating Disappear?

The structure of CHAIR! is fairly simple. For GDIF, it was staged in Queen’s Square in Newham, near Upton Park station. It is a physical, wordless performance, just 30 minutes long. Performers Sarah April Lamb, Nelson Holtz and Amir Shafiei are joined by locally-recruited residents. The piece starts with Lamb asleep on a bench, before caretakers (Holtz and Shafei) remove it. In a dreamlike sequence, our central character welcomes a number of people, each with their own chairs. Most engage in an activity of their choice, which is sometimes enhanced by our dreamer. A lot of it is whimsical or creative – bubbles, afternoon tea, painting, gardening, or chess.

What does this tell us? Clearly, one point to reflect on is the way that our engagement in our community is eroded when there is no place for us in it outside of the private sphere. It’s not necessarily about joint activities, but about the ability to fully participate and the freedom to choose. A participatory sequence towards the end reminds us that resistance isn’t always easy, but it is possible.

I rather enjoyed this gentle approach to political engagement and activism. It was nice to see local residents enjoying their time on the stage, as it were. And plenty of other locals slowed down or stopped on their way across the square to watch the performance. GDIF does a great job of bringing such performances to local communities even outside of what is strictly Greenwich or the Docklands, and I hope to be able to continue to explore new places and new modes of performance through its programming for many years to come.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

CHAIR! was performed on 3 and 4 September 2026 as part of Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. The festival continues until 6 September. More information on GDIF here, and Geraldine Pilgrim’s work here.