One of the great socio-realists of his time, Dickens wandered through London, documenting life by capturing the city’s everyday joys and tragedies in The Uncommercial Traveller. Inspired by this little-known collection of his journalistic writings, the creative learning and enrichment teams at Arcola and Punchdrunk – both of which are known in the UK for their innovative approaches to theatre and community engagement – work with local artists, communities and sound designers in four fascinating international cities. The aim is to develop a creative and reflective tour in each location by using Dickens’s approach of seeking out forgotten places and uncovering hidden stories.

The idea originated in Dalston, London, where Arcola and Punchdrunk worked with local performers over the age of sixty, capturing stories from their experiences of living in the area to create an audio journey and an immersive performance in a disused shop. Working closely with the British Council, the UK practitioners have reconceived The Uncommercial Traveller as an international project that will take on a new life in each location, with local participants designing their own journeys.

Are you in London, Portsmouth, Melbourne, Singapore, Karachi or Penang? If so you can download a uniquely creative audio guided tour of your city on one of the links below, made by local artists and communities with UK Directors Owen Calvert-Lyons (Arcola Theatre) and Peter Higgin (Punchdrunk).

The Uncommercial Traveller: Penang – launched April 2012

The Uncommercial Traveller: Melbourne – launched 21 February 2012

The Uncommercial Traveller: Karachi – launched 10 February 2012 (English Version)

The Uncommercial Traveller: Karachi – launched 10 February 2012 (Urdu Version)

The Uncommercial Traveller: London – launched 25 June 2011

The Uncommercial Traveller: Portsmouth – launched 15 December 2012