Uproar, The Playground Theatre
For Camden Fringe 2025 we’re publishing interviews every day of July to give you a real taste of what’s on offer at this year’s festival. With over 400 shows happening over its four week run, there really is so much on offer that sometimes you just don’t know where to start! Hopefully some of the 100+ interviews we’ll be publishing will give you some ideas. You can find all our interviews currently published here.
As always, there is an amazing international feel to this year’s Camden Fringe. Moyra Silva and Carolina Rieckhof‘s Uproar certainly is, with its focus on the political unrest and protests that happened in Peru in 2022/23. It certainly looks a colourful and visual show as well, as some of the photos included will demonstrate.
Wanting to know more about this show that will play at The Playground Theatre for one performance only on Friday 1 August, we grabbed some time with Moyra and Carolina to ask some questions.
What can audiences expect from the show?
Uproar was born from grief and frustration – it began as a stifled scream, a lump in the throat. When I met Carolina Rieckhof in London in May 2023, we were both carrying deep sadness, anger, and a sense of powerlessness over the tragic deaths and political unrest during the protests in Peru (Dec 2022 – Mar 2023). Yet, we were also inspired by the strength of collective action. We felt compelled to create something that would amplify unheard stories from Latin America and honour the power of protest.
Blending dance, costume, and sound, Uproar became a gateway to ancestral practices of resistance in Peru – from the Taki Onqoy movement to the joyful defiance of Andean carnivals like Candelaria in Puno. Through these traditions, we explore how joy and pain, celebration and resistance, often walk hand in hand.
At its heart, Uproar is an invitation. It’s an interdisciplinary experience that sparks dialogue without words, connecting audiences to the tension, solidarity, and hope that define movements for justice. This piece is a dedicate to those who dared to rise—and were silenced.
Is Camden Fringe going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere?
We’re excited to bring Uproar to Camden Fringe. It feels like the right space to share the next chapter of this evolving project. The piece was originally developed during the SHIFT+SPACE residency at Theatre Deli in 2023, and has since evolved through various platforms. These include performances at Siobhan Davies Studios’ “Space for Action” activism programme (Nov 2024), the Voila! Festival for multilingual theatre in London (Nov 2024), and most recently, its first international presentation at Joe Goode Annex in San Francisco, USA (March 2025). One of our UK performances was also reviewed in Dance Art Journal UK.
Audiences have responded with deep curiosity and inspiration – Uproar has sparked academic interest and critical reflection, with some viewers going on to write essays and engage with the work in scholarly contexts. One example is the article “Through our movements, we are one: Uproar and the memory of the embodied communal practices of resistance” published by Pop Moves, which reflects on the performance as a site of embodied resistance and collective memory.
What was your inspiration behind the show?
Uproar was born as an urgent artistic response to the political crisis in Peru during 2022-2023, when protests against state repression led to the tragic loss of civilian lives. Motivated by these events, we began to investigate particular forms of protest in Peru, focusing on traditional and ancestral expressions that, for centuries, have functioned as powerful tools of resilience, collective memory and cultural identity.
From this research, we share a performance proposal and workshops that explore the intersection between dance, costume, activism and community participation, intertwining ancestral knowledge with contemporary artistic practices.
How long have you been working on the play?
Since 2023 when I moved to London and met Carolina, and shared our feelings about the crisis in our country.
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
Uproar has definitely changed since we first began working on it – though not drastically, it’s in constant transformation. This evolution is intentional and reflects the very nature of what the piece explores. Like the people in our countries who continue to push back against ongoing government abuses – through protest, Carnival parodies, storytelling, and artistic projects – Uproar adapts and responds to the living, breathing reality of collective struggle.
We continually incorporate elements of this ever-evolving uprising into the performance, using it as a form of research. Each version becomes a way to investigate how communal actions generate hope and strength, even in the face of oppression.
What was it that drew you to this show and role?
MS: I was in Peru when the events happened, I experienced being protesting with my mum, with friends. Memories of tear gas, the police, the anger but also the power of collective action on the streets. However, there I had a lump in the throat, when I moved to London, maybe distance helped me to process, to create again. It was essential, the collective experience, talking with Caro and sharing the pain and transforming into creativity, as a healing process. I am very a-passionate about the topic so for this project I am multi-tasking artist: directing, creating the visuals (video editing, sound and projections), movement research and perform on stage, also production.
CR: We began developing Uproar together, each of us bringing ideas from our own disciplines. As a costume designer, it’s been incredibly meaningful for me to collaborate with Moyra and explore how the designs come to life through movement and gesture.
What drew me to this project – and continues to inspire me – is the opportunity to create something where costume, physical expression, and collective action are not separate elements, but deeply interconnected. In Uproar, we’re weaving a narrative where pain transforms into hope.
What is it about your character that you most enjoy?
MS: The experience of transformation during the performance, I performed different roles, and also the interaction with audience.
How challenging has this role been for you?
M.S : Very much, it requieres lots of my body (containing and exploiting), I give everything – my body fully commits in the performance, a very cathartic physically and emotionally.
What brought you all together?
We met in London in May 2023, united by shared feelings about the political crisis in Latin America, the failed of democracy, the social injustice. Inspired by collective resistance, we felt the need to create a piece that gave voice to stories from Latin America here. Juliana from Colombia joined us later for our first show and is now our producer.
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this with your set and props?
We work with just a few key props and elements in the space, which has naturally led us to approach Uproar as part-installation, part-performance. This minimal setup pushes us to be intentional with every object we include and how it’s arranged. We’ve developed strategies for organizing these elements in ways that help us shape the narrative and guide the audience’s experience.
Working with limited resources is something we’re used to – it’s always a challenge, but one that sparks our creativity. Rather than seeing it as a limitation, we see it as an invitation to think more critically about space, symbolism, and presence.
What has been the biggest challenge in realising the writer’s vision for the show?
Taking on many roles has been one of the biggest challenges—juggling being a performer, co-director, and co-creator requires constant shifts in perspective. Since Uproar doesn’t follow a conventional theatre script and uses very little text, much of the vision had to be built through movement, sound, and atmosphere. We explore together, Carolina also became a performer too, it is about putting our bodies. More than anything, the challenge has been maintaining the energy and presence to carry the emotional weight of the piece on stage.
Throughout this journey, we’ve been deeply mindful of the real lives and stories that inspired the work. Each performance is a dedication to those who continue to seek justice, and it creates a space for the audience to reflect on their own power within their communities.
How important is audience interaction to you?
Audience interaction is a key element of Uproar. We aimed to create an immersive experience that fosters dialogue through non-verbal communication. The shakers are an amazing tool—each night, the audience responds differently, and we’ve received feedback about how powerful it feels to make sound together. This shared action transcends language barriers or individual experiences with protest, creating a space of togetherness that still honours each person’s individuality.
Are there any plans for what comes next after the show has finished its run – for you or the show?
Yes! After Camden Fringe, we’re planning to continue developing Uproar through a new phase of community engagement and research. We also plan to present Uproar again as part of this new phase, while beginning a fresh cycle of research.
Who would play you in the Hollywood adaptation of your future autobiography?
I imagine someone like Princess Mononoke—not necessarily an actress, but a character who embodies a deep connection with nature, a fierce spirit, and empathy for all living beings. Someone wild, grounded, and driven by purpose rather than Hollywood adaptation.
If you had to describe your show as a colour what would it be?
Flames and fire: red, orange. Rainbow mountain.
If you had to describe your show as a meal what would it be?
Home made Pallares (lima beans) from Peru, with criolla sauce (acid, a bit spicy)
If your show had a soundtrack what songs would definitely be on it?
Rebellious songs from the protest in Peru, cumbia, carnival music, and Scissor dance songs (Peru).
If you could perform this show anywhere in the world where would it be?
If we could perform this show anywhere, I would choose Peru— but maybe when the president we are criticizing is no longer in power and artists can speak freely. It’s important to share the show where it was born.
We would also choose China, because some audience members from places like Hong Kong really connected with the story. It shows that these experiences are shared by people all over the world.
What is the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in your show?
We wouldn’t say it was weird, more like creative — we used a lima bean costume. Initially, we thought about designing the bottoms inspired by the tradition of Pearly Kings and Queens, who decorate with pearls. Instead of pearls, we wanted to incorporate something from Peru. At first, we considered using corn, but then we explored the pre-Inca Mochica culture from northern Peru, who developed iconography based on lima beans and also had a female warrior figure. We invented a scene mixing different inspirations, responding to a moment of rebellion. That’s also why the costume makes sound.
If budget or reality was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery/set you’d love to have in your show?
Pulleys, a technique that allows parts of the work to be raised and lowered—installation pieces that, for now, feel too fixed for my taste. Additionally, a projection that covers the entire stage wall, including two projectors.
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career, and how has it influenced your work on this show?
M.S.: Producing a theatre/ dance performance requires a tremendous investment of time and resources. The most valuable advice I’ve received is to be deeply passionate about the idea, theme, or text you’re working with—and to ensure it’s meaningful not only for you but also for others. That shared significance becomes the driving force through the long process: applying for funding, facing rejections, and finding creative ways to keep the project alive. Without that genuine commitment and connection, it’s difficult to sustain the energy needed to bring a production to life.
What words of advice/encouragement would you give anyone thinking about doing Camden Fringe next year?
Give it a chance!
Is there a question missing that you feel we should be asking you?
Yes, we think a really important question is: Why do you think your piece is relevant for the world right now?
With everything going on globally, there’s a real urgency to talk about the role of art in protest. That’s a big part of why we made Uproar. It uses rebellious movement, immersive sound, and invites the audience to be part of the experience , all to create space for thinking about resistance and togetherness in times of injustice.
The piece was born out of what happened in Peru between 2022 and 2023, a heartbreaking time when so many civilian lives were lost under a violent, repressive government. We felt a strong need to respond, and to honour protest as both a right and a necessity.
What we’re doing with Uproar is blending ancestral knowledge with contemporary art practices, turning pain into something creative, something that can heal. It’s deeply rooted in Latin America’s protest traditions, especially Peru’s, and it shows how art and activism have always been intertwined, carrying memory, carrying resistance, and keeping that spirit alive.
Thanks to Moyra and Carolina for a comprehensive chat. Uproar will play at The Playground Theatre on Friday 1 August.
