GRASS ROOTS


On the way to work this morning, I listened to a program on Radio 4 ….it was talking about a rather unusual new phenomena called the ‘complaints choir’ !!! This is made up of people who are unhappy about aspects of their community or country who get together to sing about it !!! OK…now that is a bit weird …...but apparently a fast growing activity

Well, I ‘m not sure I would fancy spending my creative energy on what I want to complain about (!!) but what really caught me was the conversation afterward where the comment was made that it was yet another example of the phenomena of the 21st century that people want to be participant, want to have an influence, no longer want to take a back seat and are looking for new and different ways to have a voice. One obvious expression of this is the level of interactive possibilities there are on TV and Radio, where audiences become contributors to the shows. In fact a recent experiment, was a play which had three possible endings, in which the audience could phone in and influence which script should be followed!



A growing number of people in the 21st century seem to be looking for new ways to have their say and play their part in shaping society - more as part of a grass roots movement – seeking creative and constructive possibilities to bypass the usual hierarchies of power and influence.

This is a really interesting trend