Standon Calling ‘09

31st July - 2nd August

2009’s Standon Calling celebrated the four hundred year anniversary of Galileo’s re-invention of the telescope, and his famous rejection of the Roman Church’s doctrine that the Earth is the centre of the universe. In honour of his defence of ‘heliocentricity’ – the sun in its correct place at the centre of the solar system – the Heritage Arts Company decorated the Lordship Lawn with an experience-based theatre arena called ‘The Heliocentre’.

“…an interactive installation that was so special that I still can’t speak of it properly.”
– Jen Soame, remotegoat.co.uk, 5th August 2009

The Heliocentre contained, amongst other mysteries, a Cold War Space Race interrogation, an interactive codebreaking puzzle, a door to Galileo’s Cell in the 17th century, and some one-on-one up close and personal gigs with our friends Dom Coyote, Pepe Belmonte and others. The nearby Galileo Stage and accompanying bar were dressed by Galileo’s personal decor assistants, and, not far away, a nine foot Camera Obscura appeared in prime position facing the main stage, also courtesy of the HAC.

“…a personal (and perhaps not for the sleep deprived) series of surreal code breaking performances up near the pool (please go see these guys if you are ever in a field in Hertfordshire and see them on the bill).”
– Dazed and Confused Magazine (dazeddigital.com) 5th August 2009

Read more about the festival in our news section ->