A quietly ambitious new performance work is set to land in Ireland, offering something far removed from the traditional theatre experience. The Peace Process, created by Flora Fauna Project, invites audiences into a meditative, immersive world where dance, sound, film, and environment merge into a living, evolving ritual.
Following its premiere in West Cork last year, the production will run at Project Arts Centre from April 29 to May 2, before travelling to Springmoves Dance Festival at Wexford Arts Centre from May 7 to 8.
Co-created by Maria Nilsson Waller and Stace Gill, The Peace Process is less a conventional performance and more a durational environment—one that audiences are free to move through at their own pace. There’s no fixed beginning or end. Instead, a continuous loop unfolds as dancers navigate a circular, ten-part score, creating a constantly shifting landscape of movement and interaction.
The result is something closer to a shared experience than a staged show. Visitors can enter, leave, wander, and return, becoming part of the work’s rhythm rather than passive observers.
At its core, the piece explores cycles of conflict, harmony, and transformation. But rather than offering answers, it creates space for reflection. The work leans heavily into sensory immersion—natural light, riverscapes, sound design, and movement combine to create what the creators describe as a “meditative ecosystem.”
The performance opens with ADHISTA, an abstract film installation composed of light and water imagery, designed to ease audiences into a slower, more attentive state. From there, five dancers guide the experience, responding in real time to one another and to the audience’s presence.
Improvisation plays a central role. While the structure is carefully designed, each performance evolves differently, shaped by the energy in the room. This unpredictability is intentional—part of a broader philosophy that informed the work’s creation.
Nilsson Waller and Gill developed the piece through a non-hierarchical, collaborative process, encouraging what they describe as a “hive mind” among the performers and creative team. The approach prioritises intuition, presence, and non-verbal communication—ideas that carry through into the final performance.
For the dancers, the work becomes a kind of lived practice. Slowing down, observing, and responding—rather than controlling—are key principles, mirroring the broader theme of peace as an ongoing, active process rather than a fixed state.
That idea extends to the audience, who are not just watching but participating in a shared space of attention and awareness. The aim isn’t spectacle, but connection—an invitation to step briefly into a different tempo and consider what it means to be present, both individually and collectively.
In a cultural moment defined by distraction and speed, The Peace Process feels deliberately countercurrent. It asks for time, patience, and openness—but offers, in return, a rare kind of stillness.
A new EP ‘We Must Be Still Alive?’ featuring music from THE PEACE PROCESS by composers THE SEI is now available on all platforms, released with Paragon Records.
https://thesei.bandcamp.com/
With its Irish run spanning Dublin and Wexford, audiences here have an early opportunity to experience a work that is as much about process as it is about performance—an evolving exploration of how we might find, and sustain, moments of peace in a complex world.
More Info: www.florafaunaproject.com
Insta: @florafaunaproject
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