We Are As Gods | Battersea Arts Centre

This event has now passed

Information

Times: 5:00pm or 7:30pm (Doors open 30 mins beforehand for audiences to enjoy Food & Drink and to soak up the atmosphere)

Tickets: Pay What You Can (suggested price £26)

Running Time: 2 hours 15 mins (plus after party)

Age Guidance: 12+

This event takes place in person across our building. Two thirds of the performance spaces have step free access. A third of the performance does not have step-free access.

Come together in an explosive celebration of a new world.

Immerse yourself and party with friends in an electric club atmosphere with We Are As Gods, James Cousins Company‘s first large scale immersive experience drawing together James Cousins’ ‘strikingly original’ (The Guardian) choreography with music and sound design by Torben Lars Sylvest (Far From the Norm, Scottish Dance Theatre) and Pär Carlsson (Film4).

Featuring recorded text written by British-Egyptian poet Sabrina Mahfouz; discover a maze of rooms, rooftops and secret stairways throughout our building filled with the UK’s most exciting dance talent. Choose your own path as tender duets and powerful group performances writhe to the heartbeat of London’s nightlife, culminating in a euphoric after-party hosted by acclaimed DJ and Rapper GAIKA in our Grand Hall.

Supported by Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Foundation, The Ragdoll Foundation, the Fidelio Trust, Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and the London Community Foundation, and generously by private supporters.

Part of our OverCome Season
#OverCome2021

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

Choreography James Cousins

Music and Sound Design Torben Lars Sylvest & Pär Carlsson

Writer Sabrina Mahfouz

DJ GAIKA

Lighting Design Lee Curran

Set and Costume Design Jasmine Swan

Associate Choreographer Gareth Mole

Dramaturg Hannes Langolf

Creative Associate Alethia Antonia

Assistant Choreographer George Frampton

Outreach Facilitator Richard Pye

Featuring the final year BA students of London Contemporary Dance School, The Place.

The Elders Company from Katherine Low Settlement.

We want our shows to be as accessible to as many people as possible.

We offer tickets to most shows on a Pay What You Can basis throughout the year.

Tickets for Council Chamber performances in 2026 start at £9.50, and we have recommended pricing to help you choose a price that works for you.

We know that ticket price is a huge barrier for some. If you can afford to pay the recommended price or more, choosing to do so supports those that can’t. It makes it possible for us to continue to offer Pay What You Can and welcome those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend.

FIND OUT MORE

We are a COVID secure venue and are following guidelines set out by the government to make your visit a safe and enjoyable one.

Mask wearing is required for all adult audience members whilst sat in performance spaces and when moving around our building (unless exempt).

Find out more about our covid-secure measures

We are offering a limited amount of socially distanced performances for most events.

Fewer tickets will be sold for these performances providing more space for audiences to be social distanced.

Socially distanced performances will be highlighted next to the dates when booking.

This event takes place in person. The audience will be moving around the whole of Battersea Arts Centre during the performance. Two thirds of the performance spaces have step free access. A third of the performance does not have step-free access.

If you’ve booked a ticket, you’ll receive an email in advance with helpful information before the performance.

Content

This show includes flashing lights.
There will be loud music and sounds.
May contain scenes some audiences may find disturbing.

All performances will be Relaxed. We invite you to make yourself comfortable and move around if you need to and if you need to leave the performance at any point you will be allowed to return to the space when you feel ready.

Further Information

PRE-SHOW INFORMATION

Visit our ACCESS PAGE

29 - 30 May

TERRAIN

Homegrown Festival 2026

'TERRAIN' is Homegrown Festival’s space of transformation. We take over a room and turn it into a landscape, an environment you can touch, rest and dream within.

Event Info

A black notebook containing various images of John Archer, attached using tape or a pin. Three blobs of grey paint are smeared next to each other on one of his images, with the name “John Archer” written at the bottom left-hand side of the notebook.

29 - 30 May

Archer's Legacy Lives

Homegrown Festival 2026

'Archer’s Legacy Lives' is a three-part exploration of the life and legacy of John Archer.

Event Info

This fluid, abstract composition features reflective, liquid-like shapes suspended in deep blue space. The image conjures up an imagined underwater environment, with hints of movement and texture that evoke memories of long-forgotten swimming pools. Rather than depicting a literal space, the unstable, continuously shifting forms appear as if shaped by memory, perception and reinterpretation. Created through observation, reconstruction, and reimagination, the image reflects the workshop's approach to space. Sitting between documentation and fiction, it visualises a collective attempt to see the building differently - not as it is now, but as it once was.

29 - 30 May

Almost Here: The Pool That Never Existed

Homegrown Festival 2026

What if Battersea Arts Centre was meant to become a swimming pool and that future never happened? A participatory workshop where you explore BAC and reimagine its hidden past.

Event Info Book Now