Compost Mentis: Wild Worlds at Chester Zoo
Gemma Gibb, Associate Editor
Chester Zoo‘s Wild Worlds festival this summer offers some bonkers botanical revelry. Not least in the form of curious characters to encounter in the most unexpected of places.
Close to the apes, you might encounter something stirring in the garden. Meet Compost Mentis, a compost heap like you have never seen before, and the Gardener who looks after it.
Expect much devilment, hilarity and more than a few squeals as the compost heap springs to life and reveals that it has thoughts “fermenting within”. With live action, puppet, mechanical and musical interventions expect to be “led up the garden path”.
Compost Mentis has been brought to the zoo by internationally acclaimed street artists Whalley Range All Stars who are renowned for their fresh, funny and fearless outdoor productions. We love that world class street theatre can be experienced in the setting of one of the UK’s leading conservation charities.
Against the backdrop of all the other events, artist-led zones and installations across the festival, the powerful message of biodiversity and that science learning can be the most creative and fun of all, rings true with experiences like these. And, let’s face it, who doesn’t love an incredible (and scarily big) monster?
Catch Compost Mentis performances daily between 9 and 12 August at 1 and 3.30pm.
