Performance: Stand of the Sun: A solstice ritual for the melting metropolis by Bryony Ella

4 July 2026

18.30-19.15

Bryony Ella, Stand of the Sun, 2025 (image credit: Alberto Romano)
Bryony Ella, Stand of the Sun, 2025 (image credit: Alberto Romano)

How does the Sun experience our overheating world? What would the Sun say to humanity today, if only we could listen?

Stand of the Sun is a multidisciplinary storytelling performance that offers empathy for our sun and those affected by extreme heat. As we cross over into the summer months, the audio-scape takes audiences on a cosmic journey exploring non-human communication at different scales: from outer space, into the city, through the human psyche and back out into the celestial realm.

The performance weaves creative responses from Melting Metropolis a Wellcome Discovery Grant environmental history project at the University of Liverpool, which is tracing the history of urban heat islands in London, New York, Paris and Port of Spain, Trinidad. Through music, light and spoken word, Stand of the Sun amplifies the lived experiences of people most affected by heat.

Inhabiting body and imagination, Stand of the Sun invites reflection on time, compassion and the power of community in the face of environmental crisis.

    • Bryony Ella, Stand of the Sun, 2025 (image credit: Alberto Romano)

    Programme