Plot 9 Presents... (#7) 'Courage'

Excited to bring you together for our second P9P… gathering this year!  Now with fully functioning composting toilet! Woohoo! It needs a name btw… the best suggestion so far is… The Turdis!

Surrounded by plants, under a parachute with fire in SE London… An evening of presenters, Q&A, community call-outs and fire-side chat 'til late in our magical outdoor community space. The evening kicks off at 7:30pm with arrival from 7pm.

Join us for Plot 9 Presents… #7 ‘Courage’ at the inspiring Plot 9 Maze Hill - a council allotment in Greenwich that Andy has transformed into a new community gathering space. The event will take place in a living sculpture called the 'Dodeca-Den' - a 12-sided/circular space designed for workshops, talks and therapeutic practices.

THIS IS A FREE EVENT BUT PLEASE BOOK A TICKET. 

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The Idea...

Andy co-creates Plot 9's monthly showcase event with Clare Barry of Urban Curiosity (also a Greenwich-local). 

The evening is designed to showcase a wide range of voices, speaking or performing from the heart… instigators, changemakers, sensemakers, curious and creative minds who seek and create the weird and wonderful in the fringes and liminal spaces.

The night has already opened doors to further conversations, connections and collaborations and we hope for many more. We are committed to long-term community-building and plan to hold the event throughout  most of the coming year, no matter the weather. We can't wait to see you all again after winter and look forward to the conversations around the fire afterwards and seeing what magic will come from season 2 of our beloved event. 

For those new to the event - the area is covered and will go ahead unless the wind is strong enough to make the ex-army parachute break free from its tethers and take to the skies again! …and even then, we'll find a way…. and if it gets cold, we have blankets & fire!

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Presenters for our 7th event… ‘Courage’

	* Ethan Hsieh is the Artistic Director of 5ToMidnight International and Director of Community Development and Partnerships at The Vervaeke Foundation.  He is a practice-researcher working in the intersection between actor training and 4E (embodied, embedded, enacted, or extended) cognitive science.  Ethan will talk about the ecology of practices that has come out of his research (TIAMAT) and his upcoming workshop at Plot 9 on Sunday 12th May.
	* Alyssa Herzinger is an AuDHD actor, musician, and writer. After a decade in digital marketing, she is about to launch her own content branding agency.  Alyssa has written several short plays, and is the author of Pioneer: Creating Your Own Path After Mormonism.  She shares from her journey with neurodivergence and leaving Mormonism to help others know they're not alone. Creative Practice Newsletter Website Instagram @alyssazing
	Petra  Palkovacsova, originally from a Slovak rural village, is a London-based poet, artist, researcher, and curator. She studied at the University of Greenwich, focusing on poetry and critical theory. Petra was shortlisted for the Street Cake experimental writing prize in 2021 with her prose poetry piece ‘I Remember’. She was published in multiple anthologies including Queer W/rites: A University of Greenwich Anthology, the Street Cake magazine with her poem {[𝐵𝑟𝑎(𝑛)]𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠} and the Bluebird Anthology. Petra performed at the European Poetry Festival, Bobinska Brownlee Gallery, Arts in the Streets festival, the George Tavern and Pushkin House in London. She self-published her first collection, Mythologies, in 2023 and she founded a publishing house called Femmesocial Press in the same year. Petra will be reciting some of her poetry and talking about the courage needed to get your work 'out there' and of launching her own publishing house at the age of 22.  One of her new poems is about courage she found in the context of breaking free from a toxic relationship. Petra's Instagram
	* Rens Juris Tesink a local theatre-maker and songwriter. He's half-Latvian, half-Dutch, but grew up all over. He graduated from East 15's Acting and Contemporary Theatre course in 2022.  Rens will be performing one of his songs during the evening. Rens introduced our speaker Ethan to us and last month completed a  7-day residentail TIAMAT training programme in Czech. Rens is happy to talk to anyone about the impact the training and the pracrtise has had on him. Rens' Instagram
	* You! We set aside 10 ‘Community Call-Outs’ minutes for anyone to stand up and talk about about requests or announcements  to everyone gathered. These will be circulated along with links and contacts (if relevant) to everyone that attends after the event. Each call-out can last for up to a minute to give everyone a chance to speak. Examples of topics of previous call-outs… job needed, workshop space needed, book published, funding for play needed, artistic collaborator needed, yoga classes offered, etc.

Please contact us if you'd like to speak or perform at a future event or get involved in any way!

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Schedule

7pm: Arrive in time for the start...

7:30pm: We will start with a short intro and grounding meditation

7:45pm: Presenters begin*.

9:15pm(ish): Presenters finish, socialising begins…

10:30pm(ish): Close. Realistically the event doesn’t close until we call it a night…  Please leave quietly. (Trains back into town leave at 21:44, 22:07, 22:14, 22:37, 22:44, 23:07… a few mins walk away). 

*and if we're lucky, Basil, our beloved resident fox (pictured) might make one of his regular unscheduled appearances before he takes on the night shift at Plot 9.

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Travel info: Arrival

Plot 9 is in east Greenwich, a few minutes walk from Maze Hill Overground Station which is served by Southeastern and Thameslink trains. You can catch a direct train to Maze Hill from any of: Greenwich, Deptford, London Bridge, Cannon St, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, St Pancras or West Hampstead.  

VIDEO DIRECTIONS: It's a short route from Maze Hill station to Plot 9 but a little bit convoluted so please look at video directions here showing the route from Platform 2 of Maze Hill station where you'll alight if coming from central London.

It is also possible to travel via North Greenwich and get the 188 or 422 bus, alighting on Trafalgar Road or Woolwich Road and walking up Vanbrugh Hill, turning right onto Restell Close. The space is halfway down the hill on the right. Look for the bright green campervan and the entrance is 10 metres beyond it on the right.

Google maps pin. Postcode: SE3 7RD

If you're driving then there's usually plenty of free space on nearby Humber Road (free parking from 6:30pm).

Plot 9 is not (yet) wheelchair accessible.  

Travel info: Leaving

To head back into town at the end of the event, trains leave platform 1 of Maze Hill - only 1 minute walk from Plot 9. 
Trains back into town leave at: 21:44, 22:07, 22:14, 22:37, 22:44, 23:07…
Please leave quietly as it's a residential area and any noise complaints could put the fledgling venue at risk.

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Refreshments - BYO

Please feel free to bring any refreshments and snacks. Water will be available for humans and dogs.

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Toilets

Happy to announce our wonderfully crowd-funded toilet is open for business in all its truncated pyramidal glory.

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Diversity

Andy and Clare are committed to bringing a diverse range of voices to Plot 9 Presents… that represent the local community and wider-London. One of our most frequent conversations is about how to make this happen. We know that we have some way to go. We'd love your help by suggesting people or organisations that would help us reach out to a more diverse range of presenters for our fledgling event. Whilst a particular monthly line-up may not seem diverse, please judge us by the whole series of events over the coming months and years as we strive to grow our networks to find new people, perspectives and organisations.

Donations

This is a free event but Plot 9 is happy to accept your donations which can be your time, plants, ideas, a donation when booking a ticket or via paypal to support the development and maintenance of the space. Plot 9 has been built almost single-handedly by Andy and he has funded it himself until recently. Andy has welcomed donations of plants from the Moat Foundation and Greenwich Park and is grateful for their support, alongside friends and family that have lent a hand and much moral support. We have ambitious plans!

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Keeping in touch / interested in using the space?

Plot 9 is available to hire (by donation) for events that align with our values of providing an inclusive, therapeutic space for activities that support community-building, well-being, nature-connection, creativity and learning. Send Plot 9's Instagram a dm or email andy.millns@gmail.com if you're interested in talking.

To stay informed of events at Plot 9 and Andy's other projects or to get involved, fill out this form to join our mailing list and Whatsapp Community or follow Plot 9's Instagram.