What’s On
A 13ft sea giant is coming to Redhill Market as Arts Takeover 2026 opens
A 13-foot sea giant is going to be walking around Redhill Market next month.
Eko, a giant puppet operated by five puppeteers, comes to Redhill on Saturday 5 September as part of Arts Takeover, the borough’s week-long festival of the arts. He is the star of Out of the Deep Blue, an outdoor show by the Birmingham-based company Autin Dance Theatre, and the performance falls on the festival’s opening day.
When and where
The festival’s listing puts Eko at Redhill Market, 1–2 London Road, RH1 1LY, from noon until 3pm on Saturday 5 September. Autin Dance Theatre’s own press material lists three walkabouts within that window, at 12pm, 1.30pm and 3pm.
It is an outdoor, drop-in performance rather than a seated one, so you meet Eko wherever he happens to be roaming.
What the show is about
Out of the Deep Blue is a piece of outdoor physical theatre built around the climate emergency and the loss of wildlife. The story follows Eko, a sea giant who rises out of the deep ocean and meets a little girl called Violet on the shore; the choreography is described by the company as a larger-than-life ‘pas de deux’ between the two.
It exists in two parts — a 25-minute promenade in which the puppet moves through its surroundings and meets the audience, and a 30-minute dance duet in a set performance space. The company has also published a children’s book based on the show, Violet and the Sea Giant.
Watch the trailer
‘We can’t wait for Eko to meet hundreds of local families’
“We are thrilled to be bringing our sensational outdoor performance Out of the Deep Blue to Redhill in September as part of the Arts Takeover,” said Johnny Autin, artistic director of Autin Dance Theatre.
“We can’t wait for Eko to meet hundreds of local families, residents and attendees. Thank you to Reigate & Banstead Borough Council for making this happen and supporting us to deliver what promises to be an exciting and engaging cultural event for all.”
Autin Dance Theatre is a registered charity and an award-winning dance company based in Birmingham. Its outdoor work includes Street Games, Brimstone the Dragon and Parade — The Giant Wheel.
Arts Takeover 2026
Arts Takeover runs from 5 to 12 September this year — a month earlier than in previous years, when it has been held in October. It started in Redhill in October 2023 and is run by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council as part of its wellbeing strategy, with the aim of putting on free and low-cost performances and giving people a chance to try something creative.
Last year’s festival spread across more than ten venues in and around Redhill and included the town’s first recycled fashion show and a Battle of the Bands. The full 2026 programme and bookings are on the festival’s listings page.
The photographs above were supplied by Autin Dance Theatre and were taken at earlier performances of Out of the Deep Blue elsewhere in the UK. The company told Surrey Extra it is not able to provide pictures of Eko in Redhill until the performance itself.