What we do
Giving, making, upturning ideas, listening, saying more YES than NO, welcoming new friends… all whilst holding creativity dear
Stacked Wonky is an arts organisation: a glorious and growing entanglement of performance-making and educational endeavour based in Porlock, West Somerset. We’ve been here since 2015, but cast anchor anew when we opened our high street HQ in 2021.
Sarah Shorten, Artistic Director, leads the way buoyed up by a team of performers, creatives, makers, educators and organisers.
We live and work here.
Performance is our first love
We create experimental, site-specific performance worlds using movement, choreography, sound and objects. Here you will find skilled child and adult performers, equally trusted.
We love site-specific work, it’s been our focus since day one. Places unlock feelings.
Provocative, questioning, generous and tender: we try to make work relevant for our time.
Audience
Often our work defies categorisation, but it cares deeply for our audiences, extending an offer to journey rather than sit, experience rather than watch.
As subject matter experts, they guide us to develop impactful experiences for everyone.
“We didn't watch this performance; we experienced it, engaged in it, felt it, followed it, swallowed it, got changed by it.”
Audience member, The Landings
Our kids confound expectations
Kids have the power to deliver a gut-punch to audiences unlike any other. They can’t do this unless they are integral to how a performance is made.
As quickly as we learn, we give our learning away. We’ve built an Academy programme that pulls apart the art of site-specific performance-making for young directors, choreographers, performers, designers and technicians.
Our kids fly, seizing performance and life opportunities with vigour. Some become Young Associates.
Our values
Authenticy, integrity, independence, courage and a willingness to put ourselves in others’ shoes are at the forefront of everything we do.
At the very least, if activism and kindness aren’t in our story, we’re heading in the wrong direction.
Work local, think big
Thanks to our high street HQ, we have become an integral part of our community in ways we didn’t think possible – it feels good. Together, we’ve sparked brilliant and unforeseen initiatives.
We seek to shine brightly beyond local boundaries, both regionally and nationally, standing up for our craft and community. See our Partners page.
“Anarchic and exuberant”
Time Out
The Team
Artistic Director Sarah Shorten
Executive Producer Rosalind Conlon
Sound Lead Sebastian Tesouro
Object & Costume Design Angie Newbold
Filmmaker Dan Farberoff
Music Production & DJ Alex Lane
Photographer Rod Higginson
Technician Tony Macriner
Wild & Forest School Lead Ema Lou Rowe
Writer & Project Support Helen Tompson
Engagement Lead Melanie Tesouro-Willmott
Sarah Shorten
Stacked Wonky is an artist-led organisation. I am its chief propeller and visionary.
It has London beginnings and a rollercoaster archive of performances and collaborations spanning 20 years. I arrived in West Somerset in 2015.
Since that time, I’ve bundled up and shared my learning with an incredible team and community who’ve embroidered Stacked Wonky way beyond my imaginings.
