All Human Beings are Born Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights. Article 1: Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Community Arts North West presents:
onstage2010 A celebration of survival, new beginnings and how events in other parts of the world directly affect us here.
Contact Cross Street Chapel The Lowry Nexus Art Cafe Royal Exchange Theatre Waterside Arts Centre Zion Arts Centre
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A very warm welcome to the Exodus Onstage Refugee Theatre Festival featuring a month of challenging, contemporary work exploring the narratives of war, diaspora and asylum.
onstage2010
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Cover photography: Shaheda Choudhury
Photography (above): Jason Lock (left) and Shirlaine Forrest (right)
This year there is something for everyone with six venues across Greater Manchester playing host to 12 productions (10 new works). The Zion Arts Centre will be transformed through Souk Kitchen, a theatre installation with food and live performance guaranteed to stimulate your senses and brought to you by refugee and other local women’s groups. Young people from Rochdale, Wigan and Manchester will be taking over Contact with a provocative and playful series of performances as part of Nu Britannia which includes explosive African/Street Dance moves from the electrifying NESTAC, digital mash-up from Wigan’s Rafiki, and a new Hip Hop Theatre production, The Machine Speaks – in 3D. Two of the Exodus Onstage productions will also be hot footing it down to London. They include Women Asylum Seekers Together’s (WAST) moving production of How I became an Asylum Seeker and also Feelgood Theatre’s stunning production of Slave; A Question of Freedom which will be transferring to the West End after its premiere at the Lowry. We are very pleased that this year’s festival will also be joined by Amnesty International Manchester as part of their Freedom from Fear Burma Campaign events. Community Arts North West (CAN ) are delighted that so many partners have come on board for Exodus Onstage. This festival represents a broad alliance of creative producers, artists and communities, who embrace the evolving cultural landscape of Greater Manchester and who believe in the power of theatre to create change.
Many thanks to the Exodus Onstage Partners: Amnesty International, Community Arts North West, Contact, Cooperative Members Group, Cross Street Chapel, Feelgood Theatre Productions, In Place of War: The University of Manchester, GAP Unit, Kurdistan Arts and Culture, The Levenshulme Trust, The Lowry, Manchester Tamil Association, Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture, NESTAC ( New Steps for African Communities), Nexus Art Cafe, North West Playwrights, Northern International Theatre, Nu Xpressions, Rafiki: Wigan Youth Service, RASA Productions, Royal Exchange, Speakeasy, Sudanese Cultural Society, Tamil Solidarity, University of Salford, Waters Edge, Waterside Arts Centre, Women Asylum Seekers Together, World Wide Workshop and Zion Arts Centre. Exodus Onstage is produced by Community Arts North West. A special thanks to all our funders whose invaluable support has made this festival possible;
AGMA
Warm up for the Exodus Onstage Festival with our October trailblazer events, supporting Amnesty International’s Burma Campaign and celebrating Black History Month.
This brochure is available in large print upon request. Email katherine@can.uk.com or call 0161 234 2987 3
Date 05/10/10 (7.30pm)
Venue Contact
Tickets Free
Date 23/10/10 (2.30pm)
Venue Cross Street Chapel*
TRAILBLAZERS
Freedom From Fear
Burma VJ: A film by Anders Østergaard
Burma: the struggle for freedom and democracy
Sponsored and promoted by the Manchester Area Committee of The Co-operative Group
Talk and book signing by Zoya Phan, Burma Campaign UK
Screening followed by Q & A with video journalist, Aung Htun who was present at the 2007 uprising and appears in the film. Academy Award ® Nominee – Best Documentary Feature. Winner of over 40 international awards. ‘A masterpiece…Utterly gripping, Burma VJ will rock you to the core…one of the most powerful documentary films I have ever seen’ The Austin Chronicle. 4
TRAILBLAZERS
Freedom From Fear
This powerful documentary tracks the brave new breed of video journalists, who put their lives on the line using hidden cameras to document the real story of the 2007 Burmese uprisings and subsequent repression by the military regime.
Tickets: 0161 246 2345 / 2226 (Co-operative Membership) Info: Mike Reed: 07766 083765 mike.reed49@btinternet.com
Tickets £3. Pay on entry
Zoya Phan is from the Karen ethnic group in Burma. Aged fourteen, she was forced to flee with her family when Burmese soldiers attacked her village. They hid in the jungle for weeks before Info: mike.reed49@btinternet.com reaching a refugee camp in or call Mike Reed on 07766 083765 Thailand. Zoya is now a refugee (Amnesty International Manchester) in London, where she is a leading Burmese democracy activist, and has met world leaders to urge action for Burma. She is the International Coordinator for Burma Campaign UK. Her autobiography Little Daughter was published last year. Further information on the Freedom From Fear programme of events and October trailblazer events from: Amnesty International Manchester c/o Mike Reed 07766 083765 / mike.reed49@btinternet.com *Opposite Royal Exchange Theatre
Date 31/10/10 (11am-3pm)
Venue The Lowry
Tickets Free
Date 04/11/10 (6pm)
Venue Zion Arts Centre
Tickets Free. Booking essential
TRAILBLAZERS
Celebrating Black History Month
Free Family Sunday In anticipation of the upcoming production, Slave – A Question of Freedom, join us for a jam-packed day of Sudanese art, music and drama. Feelgood Theatre Productions, Community Arts North West and The Lowry invite you to step into the cultural shoes of the descendants of the great pharaohs who lived along the great Nile. Explore and celebrate the Nuba and Sudanese culture through traditional storytelling, dance, music, mask -making, food-tasting, and perhaps even a little taste of the ancient art of Nuba wrestling!
Onstage Launch Exodus Live
For more info: www.thelowry.com/ event/free-family-sunday
Help Mende build a school in her village Make a Nuba house to use as a collecting box for you to help raise money to build a school in Mende’s village. Schools across Salford are joining in this project and you can too.
To kick start the Exodus Onstage Refugee Theatre Festival, come and see exclusive previews of performances and music from the Onstage Season including a range of speakers.
Image: Copyright Feelgood Theatre Productions
Image: Shaheda Choudhury
For more info: katherine@can.uk.com or call 0161 234 2987 5
Date 04/11/10 (6.30pm-9.30pm)
Venue Rochdale Canal and plaza*
Tickets Free. Just turn up!
Freedom From Fear
Street Event – Vigil for Prisoners of Conscience in Burma
Date 05/11/10 (8pm) 07/11/10 (5pm)
Kurdistan Art and Culture, Community Arts North West and North West Playwrights presents
One Night There
Khun Bedu, Khun Dee De and Khun Kawrio are youth leaders from the Karenni region of Burma. They floated paper boats saying ‘Vote No’ in the referendum on the constitution. For this they were sentenced to 37 years in prison. Amnesty International will stage a vigil with floating paper boats and candles reflected in the waters of the Rochdale canal and the glass walls of the Bridgewater Hall. The Hall’s concert goers and passers by will have an opportunity to sign appeals for the three young men. rnet.com Info: mike.reed49@btinte 6 083765 or call Mike Reed on 0776 nchester) (Amnesty International Ma 6
*Next to Bridgewater Hall
Venue Waterside Arts Centre
Tickets £8-£6
Tickets and info: 0161 912 5616 www.watersideartscentre.c o.uk
A new play devised by Kurdistan Art and Culture, a group of Kurdish artists in exile in Greater Manchester, and scripted by lead actress Bhean Ali. One Night There draws on the performers’ own experiences of life in Kurdistan and in exile and creates a wider exploration of the pressures faced by women in contemporary society. The piece was originally performed in Kurdish at CAN’s Tower of Babel event in March 2010. This English language version has been developed especially for Exodus Onstage by playwright Crystal Stewart, in collaboration with Bhean Ali and Kurdistan Arts and Culture. In July this year the group returned to Iraq to perform the play at several venues in the Kurdish Autonomous Region, where it provoked great interest and discussion. Image: Amang Kamil
Date 05/11/10 (6pm) 06/11/10 (3pm)
Venue Zion Arts Centre
Tickets £6-£4
Community Arts North West presents
Souk Kitchen
Directed by Rachel Brogan
Tickets and info: 0161 226 1912 www.zionarts.com Age Guidance: Child ren must be accompanied by an adult.
Take an evening stroll through the Souk Kitchen, where vibrant tales have travelled from across Africa and Asia into Europe. Experience the true taste of the global women’s journey delivered through poetry, singing, dance, storytelling, ritual and world food. Once you step inside the Souk Kitchen be prepared to let your senses take control.
This exciting theatre installation, food and live performance project is performed by refugee and other local women’s groups and builds on the popular interest that many refugee women have in making and sharing their traditional cuisine and stories with the people of Britain. Image: Shirlaine Forrest
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Date 12/11/10 (6pm)
Venue Zion Arts Centre
Tickets £6-£4
Community Arts North West presents
Info: applications to saskia@zionarts.com Artists must book in advance
Another Country Directed by Cheryl Martin
Identify yourself! Do you have your documents? Don’t lie to me! Follow me now! Come on a journey into the life of a refugee in this exciting piece of immersive theatre. Directed by Cheryl Martin and devised by a team of eight multi-disciplinary artists of refugee and host community backgrounds, Another Country will make you ask yourself where you really belong. Audience Guidance: We recommend that audience members do not wear high heels at this performance.
Tickets and info: 0161 226 1912 www.zionarts.com
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Image: Marizu Okerike
Date Venue 19/11/10 Zion Arts Centre (10am-6pm/7pm)
Tickets £10
Another Country Masterclass A collaboration between artists from Another Country and Zion Arts Centre’s Artist Development Programme to share skills in multi-disciplinary performance and immersive theatre. Artists Evening Share, debate and exchange practice on multi-disciplinary, cross cultural artforms. How do we inspire, question and learn from each other? Image: Segun Lee-French
Date 18/11/10 (7.30pm)
Venue Nexus Art Cafe
Tickets Free. Booking essential
Date 18-20/11/10 (7.30pm)
Venue Contact*
Community Arts North West and Rasa Theatre present
Freedom From Fear
Hymns for the Drowning
Even Though I’m Free I Am Not
A sharing of a work in progress
Tickets Free. No ticket required
Photographic exhibition of former Prisoners of Conscience in Burma
Director: Rani Moorthy
Booking and info: 0161 234 2975 sabbi-k@can.uk.com
In 2003, Rani Moorthy, Artistic Director of Rasa Theatre and a Malaysian Tamil living in Manchester, took her play Pooja to Sri Lanka during a period of relative peace. Performing a play that exposed her life and personal journey to displaced young people in the war zone, unlocked in them buried emotions that were expressed during the workshops that followed. Even in the short time with them, there was much hope and healing through story-telling. Through workshops with Tamils in Manchester and the unique stories of survival, Hymns for the Drowning will enable all of us to understand what it takes to ‘put our suitcase down’.
James Mackay travelled the world to find former Prisoners of Conscience from Burma. He photographed them as ordinary people in ordinary places, asking for what we take for granted – freedom and human rights. No political prisoner is ever free until they are all free. The exhibition has won several awards including the Prix de la Photographie in Paris. Images from the project have been published in the New York Times, The Independent and other publications. Burma: Regime of Fear, Talk and slide presentation available to local societies, church groups, trade union meetings etc throughout autumn 2010. To book this talk contact Mike Reed 07766 083765 / mike.reed49@btinternet.com *Other dates at various other venues
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Date 19-20/11/10 (7.30pm)
Venue Contact
Freedom From Fear
The Burma Play Northern International Theatre Supported by The Co-operative
Tickets £8-£5
Tickets and info: 0161 274 0600 www.contact-theatre.org
A popular entertainer struggles to remember his life and times, and those of his country. All he can recall is darkness and fear. His colleague pushes him to face the past, re-playing their repertoire of gags, wordplay and sketches. A story told with flair, biting humour, virtuoso performances and original live music, The Burma Play sprints through the long history of the twentieth century to bring the nightmare of Burma bang up to date. “A unique show that sensitively evokes the long suffering of a people through bittersweet comedy ... beautiful music... snappy and sensitive writing... excellent actors... polished directing... wonderful to see such a committed piece of theatre” – Fringe Review.
Date 23-27/11/10 (7pm)* 24-25/11/10 (1.30pm) 27/11/10 (2.30pm)
Venue The Lowry
Tickets £11-£20
Feelgood Theatre Productions presents
Slave – A Question of Freedom World Première, prior to West End
Directed by Caroline Clegg
Tickets and info: 0843 208 6007 www.thelowry.com/event/slave Age Guidance: 9+
Adapted by Caroline Clegg and Kevin Fegan from the autobiography Slave by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis. In the remote Nuba Mountains of Sudan, life is still a good fire around which stories are told, until the men on horseback come. They murder and rape; burn the village and abduct the children to be sold into slavery. Twelve-year-old Mende Nazer was one of them. In 2000, after seven years, she was passed on to a family in London where she escaped, only to face a new struggle for political asylum. Mende’s story challenges us all to consider, what is it to be free?
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*25/11/10, Audio described performance 7pm. Touch tour 6pm. Image: Neil Matthews
Date 24/11/10 (9am-5.30pm)
Venue The Compass Room, The Lowry
Slave – Witnessing the Voice through Testimony and Performance
Tickets £68**
With Mende Nazer, Damien Lewis and Caroline Clegg. An International Conference with the University of Salford and Feelgood Theatre Productions to explore the various literary, cultural and societal questions raised by Feelgood’s production of Slave – A Question of Freedom. As part of this conference, Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST), Community Arts North West and the GAP Unit present: How I became an Asylum Seeker A Women Asylum Seekers Together production in partnership with CAN and the GAP Unit. How I became an Asylum Seeker is a thought provoking and inspirational play performed by women from WAST, written by Lydia Besong and directed by Magdalen Bartlett. It follows the emotional story of Monique who arrives to the streets of Britain after fleeing persecution following the murder of her husband. She finds herself isolated in an unsympathetic immigration system and eventually finds a new beginning through a women’s self help group.
**Includes conference, matinee ticket and lunch
Image: Shaheda Choudhury
Date 24/11/10 (7pm)
Venue The Lowry
Tickets £25***
Gala Evening Meet Mende Nazer, Damien Lewis, the cast and stars from Coronation Street, including Katy Cavanagh (Julie), Sue Nicholls (Audrey) and Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley) at a special after-show champagne reception. Profits from this evening will go towards building a school in Mende’s village. Tickets and info: 0843 208 6007 www.thelowr y.com/event/slave ***Standard price tickets available
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Date 24-26/11/10 (7.30pm)
Venue The Studio Royal Exchange Theatre
Tickets £7-£4
Date 26/11/10 (7pm)
Venue Contact
Royal Exchange Theatre’s Exchange Education presents
Community Arts North West presents
Into the Blue
Nu Britannia
Tickets £5
An evening of brand new, devised theatre from the Royal Exchange’s own World Wide Workshop and friends, including the Medical Foundation Drama Group in association with In Place of War at the University of Manchester. Box Office: 0161 833 9833 Online: royalexchange.co.uk/bookonline (there is a £2 transaction fee – not per ticket)
Tickets and info: 0161 274 0600 www.contact-theatre.org
Tickets and info: 0161 833 9833 www.royalexchange.co.uk 12
A provocative and playful series of performances created by diverse young people from Manchester, Rochdale and Wigan, including African & Street Dance from NESTAC (New Steps for African Communities), multi-media work from Rafiki Youth Project and a brand new piece of Hip Hop Theatre. Image: Lesley Chalmers
Date 27/11/10 (8pm)
Venue The Studio Royal Exchange Theatre
Tickets £9.50-£6.50
Community Arts North West presents
Speakeasy Exodus Live Speakeasy’s legendary open mic events are an essential part of Manchester’s spoken word & club scene. Speakeasy performance poets have been working with emerging refugee poets to present an Exodus Live event, a brimful of incendiary lyrics and inspirational stories, alongside the raw funk of the Speakeasy People live band.
Date 08/12/10 (2pm-8pm)
Venue TBC
Community Arts North West and In Place of War present
Exodus Onstage Practitioner Seminars
Tickets Free. Booking essential
Booking and info: 0161 234 2975 sarah@can.uk.com
A series of seminars and public debates connecting Greater Manchester based practitioners with practitioners in Sri Lanka, DRC, Kosovo, Palestinian Territories and Sudan. The seminars will explore a range of themes that are relevant to the Exodus Onstage programme. The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed multiple wars and humanitarian crises – connected to the instabilities of economic globalisation, historical political grievance, global structural inequity and new forms of ecological threat. While the events of our contemporary ‘times of blood and crime’ are not without historical precedent, they have never before had such evident global reach, impact and interconnectedness.
Image: Miselo Kunda
Tickets and info: 0161 833 9833 www.royalexchange.co.uk
Exodus Onstage brings together a range of practitioners including In Place of War, who use theatre as a tool for social change. Using the power of the internet, the seminars will enable local and international participants to discuss and explore a range of issues including making theatre in places of war and how as practitioners we break the silence. 13
Venue Information For information about bus and train services around Greater Manchester please visit www.gmpte.com or call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33. Contact venues for directions.
Contact Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6JA Ticket Office: 0161 274 0600 www.contact-theatre.org Fully wheelchair accessible. Please mention access requirements when booking. Cross Street Chapel Cross Street, Manchester, M2 1NL www.cross-street-chapel.org.uk Fully wheelchair accessible. The Lowry Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ Ticket Office: 0843 208 6007 www.thelowry.com Fully wheelchair accessible. Infra-red Sennheiser system in theatres. Audio Description (see individual event pages for details).
Nexus Art CafÊ Dale Street, Manchester, M1 1JW Ticket Office: 0161 236 0100 www.nexusartcafe.com Wheelchair accessible via Central Buildings, Oldham St during cafe opening hours (Mon-Sat 9-7, Sun 12-6) Take the lift down to basement. For events outside of these times, please contact the venue as early as possible beforehand and we will endeavour to make sure lift is available. The Studio Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann’s Square, Manchester, M2 7DH Ticket Office: 0161 833 9833 www.royalexchange.co.uk The Studio is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs welcome. Infra Red loop system. Please mention access requirements when booking. Waterside Arts Centre Waterside Plaza, Sale, M33 7ZF Ticket Office: 0161 912 5616 www.watersideartscentre.co.uk Fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs welcome. Infra Red loop system. Please mention access requirements when booking. Zion Arts Centre 335 Stretford Road, M15 5ZA Ticket Office: 0161 226 1912 www.zionarts.com Fully wheelchair accessible.
Booking Information To buy tickets for any of the events listed in this brochure, please contact the box office of the relevant venue unless otherwise stated. 14
October November
Day Tuesday
Date 5 Oct
Time 7.30pm
Event Burma VJ
Type Film
Venue Contact
Cost Free
Page 4
Saturday
23 Oct
2.30pm
Burma: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy
Book Reading
Cross Street Chapel
£3
4
Sunday
31 Oct
11am-3pm
Free Family Sunday
Event
The Lowry
Free
5
Thursday
4 Nov
6pm
Exodus Onstage Launch
Event
Zion Arts Centre
Free
5
Thursday
4 Nov
6.30pm-9.30pm
Street Event – Vigil for Prisoners of Conscience in Burma
Event
Rochdale Canal & Plaza
Free
6
Friday
5 Nov
8pm
One Night There
Theatre
Waterside Arts Centre
£8/£6
6
Friday
5 Nov
6pm
Souk Kitchen
Theatre
Zion Arts Centre
£6/£4
7
Saturday
6 Nov
3pm
Souk Kitchen
Theatre
Zion Arts Centre
£6/£4
7
Sunday
7 Nov
5pm
One Night There
Theatre
Waterside Arts Centre
£8/£6
6
Friday
12 Nov
6pm
Another Country
Theatre
Zion Arts Centre
£6/£4
8
Thursday
18 Nov
7.30pm
Hymns for the Drowning
Theatre
Nexus Art Cafe
Free
9
Thursday
18 Nov
7.30pm
Even Though I’m Free I Am Not
Exhibition
Contact
Free
9
Friday
19 Nov
7.30pm
The Burma Play
Theatre
Contact
£8/£5
10
Friday
19 Nov
7.30pm
Even Though I’m Free I Am Not
Exhibition
Contact
Free
9
Saturday
20 Nov
7.30pm
The Burma Play
Theatre
Contact
£8/£5
10
Saturday
20 Nov
7.30pm
Even Though I’m Free I Am Not
Exhibition
Contact
Free
9
Tuesday
23 Nov
7pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11-£20
10
Wednesday
24 Nov
7.30pm
Into The Blue
Theatre
Royal Exchange Studio
£7/£4
12
Wednesday
24 Nov
9am-5.30pm
Slave – Witnessing the Voice through Testimony and Performance
Conference
The Lowry
£68
11
Wednesday
24 Nov
1.30pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11-£20
10
Wednesday
24 Nov
7pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom (Gala Evening)
Theatre
The Lowry
£25
11
Wednesday
24 Nov
7pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11 - £20
10
Thursday
25 Nov
7.30pm
Into The Blue
Theatre
Royal Exchange Studio
£7 / £4
12
Thursday
25 Nov
1.30pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11 - £20
10
Thursday
25 Nov
7pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom (Audio Described performance)
Theatre
The Lowry
£11 - £20
10
Friday
26 Nov
7.30pm
Into The Blue
Theatre
Royal Exchange Studio
£7 / £4
12
Friday
26 Nov
7pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11 - £20
10
Friday
26 Nov
7pm
Nu Britannia
Mixed
Contact
£5
12
Saturday
27 Nov
2.30pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11 - £20
10
Saturday
27 Nov
7pm
Slave – A Question of Freedom
Theatre
The Lowry
£11 - £20
10
Saturday
27 Nov
8pm
Speakeasy Exodus Live
Poetry
Royal Exchange Studio
£9.50 / £6.50
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Wednesday
8 Dec
2pm-8pm
Exodus Onstage Practitioners Seminars
Seminar
TBC
Free
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About Exodus
About CAN
Exodus Onstage is brought to you by Community Arts North West as part of the Exodus programme.
Founded in 1978, Community Arts North West (CAN) is a Manchester based, arts development organisation working in partnership with communities, artists and agencies to encourage, create, and produce cultural programmes of work. CAN’s main priority is to create access to cultural production for people that are excluded or on the fringes of mainstream cultural resources.
Exodus is a dynamic programme of participatory cultural production, working with refugees, and host communities across a range of traditional and contemporary art forms. Since 2005 Exodus has been significant in creating a voice and cultural expression for refugee communities new to the region. Its diverse programme has included the annual Exodus Festival, Exodus Live Band Nights, Exodus Shorts Film Screening, new writing, original theatre and live performance. It also includes training and capacity building programmes which have seeded an impressive range of independent creative projects contributing a fresh, new culture to Britain.
Find Out More To find out more about Exodus events visit www.can.uk.com/exodus. To join the Exodus mailing list and receive occasional updates about Exodus events, email: katherine@can.uk.com
You can find us on: www.facebook.com/ExodusManchester www.flickr.com/photos/community-arts-north-west www.twitter.com/comartsnw www.youtube.com/CommunityArtsNW www.myspace.com/communityart This brochure is also available to download from www.can.uk.com
Exodus Onstage Partners: