Floating Doors: Drama as a tool of Understanding

south west | community | event notice Monday June 09, 2008 18:09 by Nick Thomas - The Pierian Centre info at pieriancentre dot com The Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA 0117 924 4512

Share the experience of using drama to bridge the gaps between communities.

On Wednesday 18th June Floating Doors comes to Bristol to share the potential and the pitfalls of using drama to build bridges between communities of young people. The creators of this award-winning show will be at the Pierian Centre in St Pauls as part of Bristol’s Refugee Week celebrations. They’ll use music, video and discussion to share their experiences with the public, with theatre professionals and with young people.

Working for the Colonel (Floating Doors)

Floating Doors was created at Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre last year, and won the UK Impetus Youth Award. It brought together a group of Cardiff teenagers, young refugees and theatre professionals to create a play based on the life story of one of their number. The research and devising process allowed participants to hear, show and tell untold stories about what it’s like to be a refugee. The group of young people then used what they’d learnt to create the final play. They wanted to show their peers, the public and policy makers what one young asylum seeker, 18- year-old Gael Cubahairo from Burundi, is really going through on his quest to find ‘home’.

The play was performed to diverse audiences throughout South Wales including Kurds, Congolese, Sudanese, East & Central Africans, Iraqi, Afghan and Iranian. Sami Jo Escot, a 15-year old involved in the play said: “At the start of this project I wasn't really bothered about refugees or asylum seekers. But now I’ve heard some of their stories and met people who have had to leave their homes, I feel a bit more for refugees. I now understand some of the real reasons why they have to leave their countries – and I want them to know there are young people like us who think about them!”

Young musicians from the show will be at the Pierian Centre on Wednesday 18th June, as will the director, Jess Naish, and artist Fiona Kam Meadley who created video projections for it and who then made a documentary of the finished product. In the afternoon they’ll share their experiences with young people; and at 7pm there’s a chance for the general public and fellow theatre professionals to hear music created for the show, to view an edited version of the documentary, and then to discuss the implications of what drama can do to raise awareness and build bridges.

The event is part of Bristol’s Refugee Week celebrations. It takes place at 7pm on Wednesday 18th June at the Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA. Entry is free, and light refreshments are available. For more information on Refugee Week events go to www.bristolrefugeeweek.co.uk

The Boy and the Young Man (Floating Doors)