Pigeons in Transit

Friday, September 13, 2024, 6:30 PM -7:25 PM, Burton Taylor Studio Gloucester Street, Oxford, England, OX1 2BN, United Kingdom

A woman's surreal journey unfolds as she receives daily pigeon deliveries, exploring climate change, conspiracy and hope in Hannah Fredsgaard-Jones' bold music-filled solo performance. 

Pigeons in Transit is a daring solo performance by composer and songwriter Hannah Fredsgaard-Jones. The play intricately intertwines the realms of climate change, conspiracy theories, pigeons and a resilient hope for the future.  

A woman grappling with the overwhelming weight of environmental despair experiences a surreal awakening when mysterious parcels appear on her doorstep. 

Each parcel contains a live pigeon, delivered daily without a trace of the sender. The boxes accumulate. Notre Dame is burning. She is thinking about freezing her eggs. Simultaneously, clips on her phone warn of pigeons working as biotech spies for the government. Loaded with surveillance technology, the pigeons spy on the public, collecting private data.  

She can’t hear the looming warning signs of climate change—flooding, wildfires and entire island communities succumbing to rising sea levels. Only the pigeons, known for their extraordinary hearing abilities, can. As they detect distant storms and volcanoes and navigate the flight from a burning future to the present moment disguised as yet another parcel delivery, she is served a final warning. 

Pigeons in Transit weaves together eight new compositions with live performances of vocals, clarinet, autoharp and synth and innovative use of conductive technology, turning the stage itself into a musical score.  

Pigeons in Transit seeks out the delicate balance of joy and pain that makes us human and challenges us to confront the deafening silence surrounding environmental warnings.