Cheers.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Civic Reception - thanks from the Mayor, a fitting end to the project
As another Edinburgh festival season begins, Nothing to Declare's 2010 success will soon hit the archives, so here are a few pictures and reviews to wrap up and look back on! (Taken me ages to get round to putting them on).
And this is us with the Mayor of Reading, who gave us a Civic Reception to acknowledge our efforts for Reading.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Critics Must See - The Stage
'if ever there was a play that defined the word poignant, this is it'
17 August 2010
17 August 2010
Review from THE SCOTSMAN
There's a story well worth telling here. For most of us, asylum seekers and refugees are little more than statistics on a Government report, or the occasional news story when something goes wrong.
All the Queen's Children aims to give the names behind the numbers a voice. Although none of the characters' lives is explored as much as we'd like we learn enough to know the hardships suffered on a daily basis by those in search of a better life.
Falling foul of the unscrupulous smugglers who help them reach the UK, the children arrive only to discover that their lives are almost worse than before. Meanwhile, three privileged middle class English teenagers go on a gap year jolly across Africa, to illustrate the chasm between life at home and abroad.
What triumphs most here (aside from the central premise of making the unseen visible) is the direction. Impressively uncliched, it allows the young company to work both as a physical theatre chorus and individual storytellers, and remains engaging throughout.
By Kelly Apter
13 August 2010
All the Queen's Children aims to give the names behind the numbers a voice. Although none of the characters' lives is explored as much as we'd like we learn enough to know the hardships suffered on a daily basis by those in search of a better life.
Falling foul of the unscrupulous smugglers who help them reach the UK, the children arrive only to discover that their lives are almost worse than before. Meanwhile, three privileged middle class English teenagers go on a gap year jolly across Africa, to illustrate the chasm between life at home and abroad.
What triumphs most here (aside from the central premise of making the unseen visible) is the direction. Impressively uncliched, it allows the young company to work both as a physical theatre chorus and individual storytellers, and remains engaging throughout.
By Kelly Apter
13 August 2010
Review from THE LIST
An impressive, unflinching piece of fluid theatre
The teens of Reading Youth Theatre devised this unflinching, impressive piece of fluid theatre themselves around the stories of real-life teenage asylum seekers (some of whom are in the company). Samuel is forced to swim to shore, swaggering, glam Lule is pulled into prostitution; their stories are set, pointedly, against that of three gap-year kids blundering around Africa.
By Kristin Innes
9 August 2010
Issue 164
The teens of Reading Youth Theatre devised this unflinching, impressive piece of fluid theatre themselves around the stories of real-life teenage asylum seekers (some of whom are in the company). Samuel is forced to swim to shore, swaggering, glam Lule is pulled into prostitution; their stories are set, pointedly, against that of three gap-year kids blundering around Africa.
By Kristin Innes
9 August 2010
Issue 164
Monday, 23 August 2010
Deported but not forgotten: plays about people, not statistics
He said he was 19 when we met him. But the authorities thought he was older. And that he was lying. Which is entirely possible. But wouldn’t you do the same thing? If what you had to go back to was the Taliban?
As the co-writer and director of All the Queen’s Children I spent months with my colleague researching unaccompanied refugee minors who go missing from Care. A mouthful which seems quite specific and it is. But it’s an issue that needs attention, because of the hundreds of children (and those claiming to be children) who arrive in the UK, usually trafficked, two-thirds of them go missing. And that’s a government statistic.
Where do they go? Why do they leave Care, seeing as that’s what they’ve been seeking, care?
It’s impossible to give answers because as the phrasing suggests, the kids are missing, we can’t find them to ask what they’re doing. It’s assumed they’re working illegally, as servants, in kitchens, drug factories or brothels. So, that’s all stuff that’s happening to children, here, in Britain. The young refugees and asylum seekers we met in our research were those attempting to stay in the system and were often going through ‘age disputes’ with Immigration.
All the Queen’s Children follows the stories of four young refugees. We depict everything from flying with false passports, trafficking on lorries to riding the top of a land-cruiser across the Sahara. The latter mode of transport was the actual experience of one teenager, H, who has since gone on to form part of our company and will be with us in Edinburgh.
From escaping a military training camp aged 14, H will now sit in a small venue just off the Royal Mile as his life story is played out in front of him by his teenage counterpart. H decided not to be in the play, but came to rehearsals. He’d always wanted to make his story into a movie, so we’re halfway there.
Yet just as we’re jetting up to Scotland, one of the teenagers we spoke to is being deported to place he spent one year escaping (from Afghanistan to England if you walk, hitch-hike, hide in airless containers and do stints in foreign jails). Not that we don’t respect the decisions of the authorities, but if it weren’t for people like him we wouldn’t be able to tell the enriching and fascinating stories we do.
Stories that are worthwhile, relevant, and of course, entertaining: plays should be about people and experiences, not statistics and shouting. I don’t need to go to the theatre to feel bad about my inability to help the Third World. With All the Queen’s Children we’ve included all the silly and funny bits people told us, as well as lyrical choreography, a Chorus and gritty dialogue. We owe it to the people who have lived these extraordinary lives, not to wallow in ‘what should be’, but to celebrate diversity through theatrical innovation.
[Written and published on http://www.whatsonstage.com/]
As the co-writer and director of All the Queen’s Children I spent months with my colleague researching unaccompanied refugee minors who go missing from Care. A mouthful which seems quite specific and it is. But it’s an issue that needs attention, because of the hundreds of children (and those claiming to be children) who arrive in the UK, usually trafficked, two-thirds of them go missing. And that’s a government statistic.
Where do they go? Why do they leave Care, seeing as that’s what they’ve been seeking, care?
It’s impossible to give answers because as the phrasing suggests, the kids are missing, we can’t find them to ask what they’re doing. It’s assumed they’re working illegally, as servants, in kitchens, drug factories or brothels. So, that’s all stuff that’s happening to children, here, in Britain. The young refugees and asylum seekers we met in our research were those attempting to stay in the system and were often going through ‘age disputes’ with Immigration.
All the Queen’s Children follows the stories of four young refugees. We depict everything from flying with false passports, trafficking on lorries to riding the top of a land-cruiser across the Sahara. The latter mode of transport was the actual experience of one teenager, H, who has since gone on to form part of our company and will be with us in Edinburgh.
From escaping a military training camp aged 14, H will now sit in a small venue just off the Royal Mile as his life story is played out in front of him by his teenage counterpart. H decided not to be in the play, but came to rehearsals. He’d always wanted to make his story into a movie, so we’re halfway there.
Yet just as we’re jetting up to Scotland, one of the teenagers we spoke to is being deported to place he spent one year escaping (from Afghanistan to England if you walk, hitch-hike, hide in airless containers and do stints in foreign jails). Not that we don’t respect the decisions of the authorities, but if it weren’t for people like him we wouldn’t be able to tell the enriching and fascinating stories we do.
Stories that are worthwhile, relevant, and of course, entertaining: plays should be about people and experiences, not statistics and shouting. I don’t need to go to the theatre to feel bad about my inability to help the Third World. With All the Queen’s Children we’ve included all the silly and funny bits people told us, as well as lyrical choreography, a Chorus and gritty dialogue. We owe it to the people who have lived these extraordinary lives, not to wallow in ‘what should be’, but to celebrate diversity through theatrical innovation.
[Written and published on http://www.whatsonstage.com/]
Monday, 9 August 2010
3rd day at The Ed Fringe
We're all buzzing here as we've just read our first review. We got...wait for it...four stars!!! We've all been piling into Dawn's room around the laptop reading the review online from Broadway Baby which is fantastic and does our show justice. Hopefully the public will see the review and our audiences will get bigger and bigger!
The Fringe is great, we've all been seeing shows, from stand up comedy to late night seances. Last night Hanibal, who has inspired our story arrived yesterday. He'll be helping us flyer for the show as well as coming with us to see shows that we've been able to pay for with our fundraising money.
I'll keep this short because we're all so busy, but keep checking for more reviews and updates!
The Fringe is great, we've all been seeing shows, from stand up comedy to late night seances. Last night Hanibal, who has inspired our story arrived yesterday. He'll be helping us flyer for the show as well as coming with us to see shows that we've been able to pay for with our fundraising money.
I'll keep this short because we're all so busy, but keep checking for more reviews and updates!
Four Star review from Broadway Baby
Check out our FANTASTIC review from Broadway Baby from our second show that we did last night at the Edinburgh Fringe...
This young company have taken on a huge and emotive subject here; the plight of young children who arrive in this country as refugees, unaccompanied by adults. It could prove disastrously polemic in less skilled hands, but as written and directed by Dawn Harrison and Rosanna Jahangard and performed by a sixteen strong ensemble of youngsters, it is riveting.
Focusing on the tales of Samuel, Lule, Yike and Sofia, who all flee their countries for different reasons for the promised land of Britain, it takes us through the horrendous procedure these kids encounter on arrival on our shores. Not least of their worries is they have to prove they are children and not adults. Variously at the mercy of over-stretched social services, 'boyfriends' more interested in pimping them out ('thirteen hours… that’s thirty men, one meal, a packet of cigarettes and four bruises') and drug dealers, these young kids soon realise that they are anything but Her Majesty’s children.
In flashback we follow the harrowing tale of how our four young refugees travelled this way, beginning in trucks across deserts, where their money crazed traffickers take away the food they brought with them to make room for more refugees. The overcrowded, water-free trucks are only the beginning of the nightmare, as they encounter unscrupulous boatman and rough seas to swim.
The complexities of staging this journey (as well as the small sub-plot of three well-heeled Brits 'travelling' in a gap year) are confronted full on, and a large sheet, ribbons, and some spheres are used brilliantly to create bars, cars, trucks, boats, the sea and much, much more.
You might see better acting on the Fringe this year, though some of these young people are rather good, lacking only technical skills like projection and comic timing. What you won’t encounter anywhere else is something as real and up to the minute as this brave piece of theatre. It really hones in on how unfair the world is, and how cosseted we are in the West. Whatever the inconveniences and traumas we think we suffer here, they are as nothing to what some very young people deal with on a daily basis.
As we all swish around Edinburgh making art and discussing other people’s art, this young company represents the true and valid spirit of what the Fringe used to be about. The character of Samuel is based on a real boy, who actually helped in the construction of the piece. He has now been granted leave to stay here. Last week, however, another of the young people helping on this project was deported back to Afghanistan where he will face punishment from the Taliban.
As one of the characters says with simple but moving clarity as the last line of the play:
'If it’s drama you’re after you should visit my country'.
This young company have taken on a huge and emotive subject here; the plight of young children who arrive in this country as refugees, unaccompanied by adults. It could prove disastrously polemic in less skilled hands, but as written and directed by Dawn Harrison and Rosanna Jahangard and performed by a sixteen strong ensemble of youngsters, it is riveting.
Focusing on the tales of Samuel, Lule, Yike and Sofia, who all flee their countries for different reasons for the promised land of Britain, it takes us through the horrendous procedure these kids encounter on arrival on our shores. Not least of their worries is they have to prove they are children and not adults. Variously at the mercy of over-stretched social services, 'boyfriends' more interested in pimping them out ('thirteen hours… that’s thirty men, one meal, a packet of cigarettes and four bruises') and drug dealers, these young kids soon realise that they are anything but Her Majesty’s children.
In flashback we follow the harrowing tale of how our four young refugees travelled this way, beginning in trucks across deserts, where their money crazed traffickers take away the food they brought with them to make room for more refugees. The overcrowded, water-free trucks are only the beginning of the nightmare, as they encounter unscrupulous boatman and rough seas to swim.
The complexities of staging this journey (as well as the small sub-plot of three well-heeled Brits 'travelling' in a gap year) are confronted full on, and a large sheet, ribbons, and some spheres are used brilliantly to create bars, cars, trucks, boats, the sea and much, much more.
You might see better acting on the Fringe this year, though some of these young people are rather good, lacking only technical skills like projection and comic timing. What you won’t encounter anywhere else is something as real and up to the minute as this brave piece of theatre. It really hones in on how unfair the world is, and how cosseted we are in the West. Whatever the inconveniences and traumas we think we suffer here, they are as nothing to what some very young people deal with on a daily basis.
As we all swish around Edinburgh making art and discussing other people’s art, this young company represents the true and valid spirit of what the Fringe used to be about. The character of Samuel is based on a real boy, who actually helped in the construction of the piece. He has now been granted leave to stay here. Last week, however, another of the young people helping on this project was deported back to Afghanistan where he will face punishment from the Taliban.
As one of the characters says with simple but moving clarity as the last line of the play:
'If it’s drama you’re after you should visit my country'.
Friday, 6 August 2010
New company member for Edinburgh!
Sami and Hanibal. Sami plays the charcater which is based on the real journey that Hanibal made when he escaped illegally forced military training in Eritrea.
Hanibal works with Sami on improving the detail of the military training scene.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Reviews from the July previews
“Mesmerising, vivid, utterly believable. When youth speaks this loudly everyone should listen”
(Sam Butler, Associate Director of Fevered Sleep)
.................................................................................
“Moving, poignant...these are stories that really must be told and this is a production that really must be seen”
(Cassie Friend, Co-Director of Redcape, winner of Fringe First and Total Theatre Award 2008)
(Sam Butler, Associate Director of Fevered Sleep)
.................................................................................
“Moving, poignant...these are stories that really must be told and this is a production that really must be seen”
(Cassie Friend, Co-Director of Redcape, winner of Fringe First and Total Theatre Award 2008)
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
NEWS RELEASE: One stays, another goes – refugees who inspired the play
The real-life counterpart of All the Queen’s Children’s central character, Marcus Hanibal, represented as Samuel and played by Sami Chokri, has been granted ‘leave to remain’ after a long and arduous application process.
The 19 year old Eritrean arrived in the UK on his own when he was just 14, after a year long journey across deserts and seas. The company are delighted for Hanibal, because they all became good friends when he agreed to share his story with them.
This is what one of them had to say after they worked with Hanibal for the first time:
“None of us could imagine anything that he had been through ... It was just so different from anything we had ever experienced. Everyone felt in awe, knowing he had been through so much and had come out the other side, and the same age as us”
Whilst the company celebrate Hanibal’s success story, they are sorry to hear another of the young men they interviewed as part of their research process has been put into a detention centre and is likely to be sent back to Afghanistan, which he says is likely to lead to his persecution as he escaped recruiters of the Taliban.
The company met the teenager when he was in the process of his age dispute. On the second night of All the Queen’s Children’s Edinburgh previews in Reading, Rosanna found out what had happened:
“When you think about what he has lived through, in a war-torn place, of course he will seem old. We thought he was coming to see the play tonight, we thanked him in the programme but he won’t know that now.”
Now, the reality of his situation reminds the young people of the importance of performing All the Queen’s Children in Edinburgh, where they hope to attract refugee audiences and entertain those who don’t know anything about the plight of unaccompanied refugee minors in the UK.
The 19 year old Eritrean arrived in the UK on his own when he was just 14, after a year long journey across deserts and seas. The company are delighted for Hanibal, because they all became good friends when he agreed to share his story with them.
This is what one of them had to say after they worked with Hanibal for the first time:
“None of us could imagine anything that he had been through ... It was just so different from anything we had ever experienced. Everyone felt in awe, knowing he had been through so much and had come out the other side, and the same age as us”
Whilst the company celebrate Hanibal’s success story, they are sorry to hear another of the young men they interviewed as part of their research process has been put into a detention centre and is likely to be sent back to Afghanistan, which he says is likely to lead to his persecution as he escaped recruiters of the Taliban.
The company met the teenager when he was in the process of his age dispute. On the second night of All the Queen’s Children’s Edinburgh previews in Reading, Rosanna found out what had happened:
“When you think about what he has lived through, in a war-torn place, of course he will seem old. We thought he was coming to see the play tonight, we thanked him in the programme but he won’t know that now.”
Now, the reality of his situation reminds the young people of the importance of performing All the Queen’s Children in Edinburgh, where they hope to attract refugee audiences and entertain those who don’t know anything about the plight of unaccompanied refugee minors in the UK.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Reading Refugee Support Group performance
Last night we performed half of 'All The Queen's Children' at The Cultural Night, organised by Reading Refugee Support Group at South Street Arts Centre. We had a great audience who were really engaged and seemed to really enjoy the performance. We had some great feedback from people praising our research and saying that they really understood and recognised the issues raised, and related to some of the characters.
The response from the audience was great and really rewarding for the group, since it was clear that the refugees who watched it related with the characters and stories. It has given us confidence that the play is an important and meaningful piece.
Overall the night was great fun, we saw some local bands, dancers and a designer showing off her dress creations. A highlight was the gorgeous food prepared by the women's group - a few members of the company even tried Mopani worms!
We are now going to resume rehearsals for the South Street performances on the 6th and 7th July. Keep checking out this blog for updates!
The response from the audience was great and really rewarding for the group, since it was clear that the refugees who watched it related with the characters and stories. It has given us confidence that the play is an important and meaningful piece.
Overall the night was great fun, we saw some local bands, dancers and a designer showing off her dress creations. A highlight was the gorgeous food prepared by the women's group - a few members of the company even tried Mopani worms!
We are now going to resume rehearsals for the South Street performances on the 6th and 7th July. Keep checking out this blog for updates!
Sunday, 13 June 2010
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All The Queen's Children in The Edinburgh Fringe programme!
On Friday The Edinburgh Festival Fringe brochure came out, and we were so excited to see our show in it! All we need to do now is create a fantastic flyer - we'll be printing about a thousand to cover the streets of Edinburgh with so it has to be striking and unique. We've also got a great show time - 4:50 which means that we have plenty of time before each show to grab audiences and then the whole evening to see shows ourselves and enjoy the Edinburgh Festival experience.
Our rehearsals are now in full flow again in preparation for our July performances. Already the show is a lot better, and with cast changes and new scenes added in it is a lot different to the original version, so it is definitely worth coming to see again if you have already seen it.
Here's the link to our slot on the Fringe website, check it out!
http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/all-the-queen-s-children
Our rehearsals are now in full flow again in preparation for our July performances. Already the show is a lot better, and with cast changes and new scenes added in it is a lot different to the original version, so it is definitely worth coming to see again if you have already seen it.
Here's the link to our slot on the Fringe website, check it out!
http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/all-the-queen-s-children
Nothing to Declare supporting Reading Refugee Support Group
Starting Monday the 14th is Reading Refugee Week, and we're looking forward to Saturday's Cultural Night at South Street Arts Centre where we'll be performing our show. It's going to be a great night with a diverse mix of music and local talent, not to mention the gorgeous refreshments available! It's also free, so the more support the better!
Another Reading Refugee Support Group event we took part in was last weekend's mini world cup tornament at Prospect Park. Our Reading Youth Theatre team took it very seriously and even had a training session before hand, however unfortunately they were beaten by a couple of other teams. It was a great family day out - we had a lovely picnic on the grass (but had to be ready to support the disappointed players!)
It would be great to have some support at Saturday's Cultural Night. For more information call Reading Box Office on 0118 9606060
Another Reading Refugee Support Group event we took part in was last weekend's mini world cup tornament at Prospect Park. Our Reading Youth Theatre team took it very seriously and even had a training session before hand, however unfortunately they were beaten by a couple of other teams. It was a great family day out - we had a lovely picnic on the grass (but had to be ready to support the disappointed players!)
It would be great to have some support at Saturday's Cultural Night. For more information call Reading Box Office on 0118 9606060
New poster design
We're in the process of tweaking and improving the show ready for the second run in July, and one big change we've made is the title. Instead of being our production title, Nothing To Declare is now our company name, and the show is called 'All The Queen's Children'.
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We've also got an even better image for publicity. We organised a shoot with local photographer Wes Oakland and ended up with this fantastic photo (after a good few hours frollicking in the sun with hundreds of paper dollars!). We hope you all like it!
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
A Slice of Music / The Hattie Carrolls and Support
As part of our fundraising we have organised two great events on the weekend of the 8th/9th May.
Everyone likes music, so one of the events must float your boat! (Even better - come to both!)
On the Saturday night is The Hattie Carrolls and Support - a gig showcasing 5 awesome local bands, find out more about it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=357731702530&ref=ts
On the following afternoon we have found a tasty selection of local musical talent to play in a classical concert, along with homemade cakes and fairtrade tea and coffee.
Everyone likes music, so one of the events must float your boat! (Even better - come to both!)The money we raise will go towards funding our trip to Edinburgh. Tomorrow we are applying for another grant of money from the Youth Oppurtunities Fund to help us, but we need as much money as we can to make our trip as good as it can be!
We hope to see you there
Friday, 9 April 2010
Jonathan Wolfman, Script Executive for CBBC says....
"A terrific ensemble piece from a young cast playing diverse roles old and young. Dawn Harrison and Rosanna Jahangard's play about the exploition of young refugees and the pressures they face weaves multiple narratives, leavening its potentially sombre themes with satire and comedy in a funny thread portraying three young tourists abroad. It's no-budget youth theatre at its best: fast-moving, emotionally engaging and ultmately moving and powerful"
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Reviews from first performances!
"An absolute triumph! A really powerful piece" (Jane Corry, Theatre Producer and Arts Centre Director)
"Bursting with energy and pace. Shines a light on the subject from every angle with wit and authenticity..." (Jonathan Evans, Writer BBC/CBBC)
"A stunning play- superbly directed and skilfully executed by such a young cast. Dealing with such deep and important issues, all of which are handled with real attention to detail, utmost respect, and at times hilarious comedy, is a challenging feat which RYT achieve so well.... Very impressve, very moving- unforgettable" (Sam Tombs, Drama Student)
"A fantastic piece of theatre" (Ben Sandiford, Actor)
"The best I have seen in a long time" (Audience Member)
"There was a really genuine, original and sophisticated feeling to the play that made it engaging, enjoyable and I would say really educational to watch" (Rebecca Hillman, Phd Theatre Student)
"Bursting with energy and pace. Shines a light on the subject from every angle with wit and authenticity..." (Jonathan Evans, Writer BBC/CBBC)
"A stunning play- superbly directed and skilfully executed by such a young cast. Dealing with such deep and important issues, all of which are handled with real attention to detail, utmost respect, and at times hilarious comedy, is a challenging feat which RYT achieve so well.... Very impressve, very moving- unforgettable" (Sam Tombs, Drama Student)
"A fantastic piece of theatre" (Ben Sandiford, Actor)
"The best I have seen in a long time" (Audience Member)
"There was a really genuine, original and sophisticated feeling to the play that made it engaging, enjoyable and I would say really educational to watch" (Rebecca Hillman, Phd Theatre Student)
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