The Call

What does it mean to have a spiritual calling in the XXIst century?

Camden People’s Theatre

Directed by Gustavo Dias Ballejo

Interfaith dialogue, ritual, performance

Four performers standing on stage with microphones, dressed in varied cultural and religious attire, with a bench in the background.

The Call is a co-creation project where an Anglican Reverend, a Guru, a Cantor and an Umbanda priest explore memories, stories, songs, and ceremonies in relation to their calling, creating a unique mixture of autobiography, ritual, and performance.  

Going from the mundane to the sublime, they explore performative ways to approach their personal lives and bring up places, people, and journeys, creating an aesthetic experience that illuminates aspects of the world’s recent history, along with the eternal question of what are we doing here at all?  

In a world where all certainty seems to be lost, these four individuals / performers share the different answers that changed their lives. By investigating their diverse experiences, behaviours, and notions related to spirituality, the project looks into different ways of searching for meaning in the contemporary world, whilst also posing the question: is it possible to share the stage / space with someone whose ideology seems to be completely different from mine?

A stage scene with three seated men and a woman standing, performing in traditional attire. The woman is wearing an orange dress and appears to be explaining or describing something to the men, who are looking at her. The stage has a plain background with a light spotlight.

Creative Team

Directed by Gustavo Dias Ballejo

Devised by Gustavo Dias Ballejo

Produced by Anna Oggero

Co-produced by David Furlong  

Set Design by TK Hay

Video Design by Valnei Nunes

Assistant Directed by Andra Anghelache

Lighting Design by Joseph Hawkings

Stage Managed by Atlanta Sonson Chapman

Assistant Production Managed by Catherine de Lima  

With Swami Surya Prabha Didiji, Rev. Cantor David Rome, Reverend Charles Pickstone, and Pai Rogério de Oxóssi

A stage scene with four people: a woman in an orange robe sitting on a bench, a man in traditional Jewish prayer shawl sitting on the same bench, a man standing playing a keyboard, and another man standing with a microphone. The background is a plain white wall.
Four people sitting on chairs on a stage with a white backdrop, a keyboard on an stand, and three microphones on stands.