Download Press Release - National Theatre of Scotland

Media Release – Thursday 28 July, 2016
The National Theatre of Scotland presents
HOME AWAY
AN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF SOCIALLY ENGAGED PARTICIPATORY ARTS
Supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
In association with the British Council
and in partnership with Glasgow Life
A FIVE DAY PROGRAMME INCLUDING 10 WORLD PREMIERES,
A CONFERENCE AND CREATIVE WORKSHOPS
TRAMWAY, GLASGOW, SATURDAY 8 – WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER 2016
Ten years ago, the National Theatre of Scotland launched with Home, a project inviting ten
communities from across Scotland to express what Home meant to them, to reflect on their place in
the world. Ten years on, the world is a very different place and the Company will now revisit the
theme, examining the challenges faced by people in Scotland and around the world in finding a
sense of belonging in the face of global political, social, cultural and technological forces. For the first
time in its history, the National Theatre of Scotland will host a five-day international festival of
socially engaged participatory arts, welcoming performers and artists from five continents. The
Company will welcome performing groups from Brazil, Jamaica, Australia, India and the United
States, four Scottish-based groups and a transgender global choir, to present new work each evening
exploring the themes of Home and Away. Members of the performing groups will also take part in a
week-long course of creative learning workshops facilitated by leading artists, in which they will have
the opportunity to develop their theatre-making skills, to exchange ideas and to share cultural
experiences of theatre, music, dance and food. Home Away will run at Tramway in Glasgow from
Saturday 8 to Wednesday 12 October 2016, with additional activity taking place in The Hidden
Gardens and at Scottish Youth Theatre.
Participatory arts offer a fundamental means of engaging communities and audiences in a direct and
impactful way and are therefore now a vital part of any arts organisation’s output. Participatory
theatre is typically created by non-professional participants working alongside professional creative
artists, to present authentic, socially engaged stories. This practice has been an integral part of the
National Theatre of Scotland’s programme since its inception and, in recent years, productions such
as Granite (Aberdeen), To Begin (Forres and Wigtown), The Tin Forest (Glasgow) and Jump (Kirkcaldy,
Calton and Jamaica) have been co-created with thousands of non-professional participants and
performed to audience and critical acclaim. Most recently, the Company collaborated with the
National Theatres of Great Britain, Wales and over 20 other theatre organisations on the UK-wide
participatory arts project we’re here because we’re here, a UK-wide participatory arts project
commissioned by 14-18 NOW, conceived and created by Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus
Norris, which had a significant impact on the thousands of participants who took part and audiences
across the country.
In addition to a nightly double bill of public performances and the creative learning opportunities for
participants, the Company has also curated a five-day daytime conference programme on the future
international development of participatory arts practice, aimed at creative artists, arts and cultural
organisations, policy makers, funders and students. Conference delegates can take part in sessions
presented by leading facilitators and organisations, including the British Council, the Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation, Scottish Ballet, Scottish Refugee Council, Creative Scotland, the Scottish
Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland itself.
Each of the ten performing groups features non-professional participants from communities facing
challenges to their way of life due to a wide range of forces, including poverty, isolation, migration,
technology, micro- and macro-economics, climate change, broadcast and social media and the
digital world. These community members have worked with leading professional artists to create a
new piece of theatre presenting their particular story. Each group will preview its piece for a home
audience, before travelling to Glasgow to present it to a public audience, the other Home Away
participants and delegates. The newly commissioned productions include:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Nùcleo de Artes Integradas do Rio, led by director Renato Rocha,
presents Antes Que Tudo Acabe (Before Everything Ends), tales of life from the favelas, told
through music, dance, drama and circus arts

Tomintoul & Glenlivet: Wildbird, in partnership with Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape
Partnership, presents The Hidden House, secret stories unearthed in the Scottish Highlands’
highest village

Chicago, USA: Adventure Stage Chicago and Northwestern Settlement, led by director Sarah
Rose Graber, present Reprise, a migrant story spanning 80 years, with original music and
lyrics inspired by Chicago’s eclectic cultural traditions

Glasgow / Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Association of Glasgow and theatrEX Bangladesh, and
directors Tareq Abdullah and Sudip Chakraborthy, present MEMORi, featuring stories of
war, escape, love and heritage from the Bangladeshi community of Glasgow

New Delhi, India: The Yuva Ekta Foundation, led by Puneeta Roy, presents Bargad Ki
Chhaon Mein (In The Shade of The Banyan Tree), a young runaway’s adventure in the
melting pot of the Jahan Nagari slums

World Wide Web: National Theatre of Scotland and director Cora Bissett, with support from
the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, present The Adam World Choir, a
transgender ensemble of singers and musicians, assembled from across the world wide web,
including performers from Scotland, England, Jordan, Portugal, Nigeria, Ukraine and beyond

Brisbane, Australia:
Director, musician and Indigenous Hip Hop pioneer Fred Leone
presents Gunyal *Scar, asking what happens when the oldest stories on Earth come under
threat in contemporary urban Aboriginal Australia

South Uist: Fuaigh Arts Collective, presents Fuaigh Fosgail, an exciting new Gaelic ceilidh
theatre experience, exploring the tensions between Gaelic life on the islands and the cities
and the quest to preserve cultural ties. Devised collaboratively by a core artistic team made
up of acclaimed singer and musician Gillebride McMillan, South Uist-born playwright, poet
and writer Rona MacDonald, visual artist and photographer Judith Parrott and director and
writer John Binnie

Kingston, Jamaica: Manifesto Jamaica, led by Lesley-Ann Welsh, present Run Free, directed
by Brian Johnson, exploring the trials and triumphs encountered by 13 young men from
Parade Gardens in Kingston, fusing the grace and flow of urban free-running with explosive
music and raw testimony

Dundee: Scottish Dance Theatre Creative Learning, led by Dawn Hartley, presents TIM (This
Is Me), a dance-driven declaration on body image and confounding expectations
National Theatre of Scotland Associate Director, Simon Sharkey, says:
“We have invited some of the most exciting artists and organisations, working with isolated
communities from across Scotland and the rest of the world, to tell us their stories, to tell us what
Home and Away means to them, to focus us on togetherness, empathy and a new way of
experiencing the world. At a time of dramatic global change and chaos, we are looking forward to
welcoming these artists and groups, to start an urgent conversation with us at a genuinely
community level.”
Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), Andrew Barnett, says:
“We supported Home Away because of our strongly held belief that participating in the performing
arts brings enormous artistic and social benefits to individuals, communities and the arts sector. We
believe this work gives a platform for the voices that are rarely heard in mainstream society. The
ambitious scope of this project, featuring stories from both urban and remote communities from
Scotland to Jamaica, South Asia, Australia and the USA, will be enriching and enlightening for all
audiences, and enable us to further our interest in exploring connections across boundaries such as
national borders, communities, disciplines and sectors.”
British Council Culture and Development Director, Stephen Stenning, says:
“Ten years on from the launch of the National Theatre of Scotland with Home, The British Council
welcomes the opportunity to work with the Company on Home Away. The British Council recognises
that Scottish artists and creative practitioners have a long tradition of community arts and socially
engaged practice. Equally, Home Away demonstrates the wealth of long-standing and meaningful
international connections. We are pleased to welcome a panel of practitioners and managers of
international, socially engaged and community arts practice, to facilitate a discussion around arts for
social change with an international perspective, looking at relevant performances within the Home
Away programme and links with the British Council’s Culture and Development programme.
It feels like a particularly important time to be sharing stories and exploring the role of arts and
artists in social change from communities across Scotland and across the globe.”
Councillor Archie Graham, OBE, Chair of Glasgow Life, says:
“We look forward to welcoming Home Away participants to Tramway this October, as work which
has been created by artists and communities in five continents is brought together to be performed in
Glasgow. Personal, powerful stories of the Bangladeshi community of the city will form a fascinating
part of a richly diverse mix of ideas, viewpoints and inspirations from across the world.”
Tickets for Home Away are on sale now at HOMEAWAY2016.COM
Join the conversation: #NTSHomeAway
----
National Theatre of Scotland Press contacts:
Adam McDougall, Press and Marketing Officer: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)141 227 9231 M: +44 (0)7738 153157
Emma Schad, Press Manager: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)141 227 9016 M: +44 (0)7930 308018
---Press Images:
A
selection
of
publicity
images
is
available
for
download
www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/press - please contact the press office for a password.
---HOME AWAY TRAMWAY PERFORMANCE INFO
Tickets for each performance cost £9/£6 concessions
Book online at: tramway.org / by phone on 0845 330 3501 / In person at Tramway
Each performance lasts between 45mins to 1hr
An interval of approx. 30mins will take place between shows each evening
Recommended age guideline: 8+
from
SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER
7.00pm: Reprise by Adventure Stage Chicago and Northwestern Settlement
8.30pm: MEMORi by Bangladesh Association of Glasgow and theatrEX Bangladesh
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER
7.00pm: Bargad Ki Chhaon Mein (In the Shade of the Banyan Tree) by The Yuva Ekta Foundation
8.30pm: The Adam World Choir by National Theatre of Scotland, with support from the Scottish
Mental Health Arts and Film Festival
MONDAY 10 OCTOBER
7.00pm: Gunyal *Scar by Fred Leone
8.30pm: Fuaigh Fosgail (Home Away) by Fuaigh Arts Collective, with support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig
TUESDAY 11 OCTOBER
7.00pm: TIM (This Is Me) by Scottish Dance Theatre
8.30pm: Run Free by Manifesto Jamaica
WEDNESDAY 12 OCTOBER
7.00pm: The Hidden House by Wildbird in partnership with Tomintoul & Glenlivet Partnership
8.30pm: Antes Que Tudo Acabe (Before Everything Ends) by Nùcleo de Artes Integradas do Rio
---HOME AWAY CONFERENCE INFO
Conference passes are available to buy online at HOMEAWAY.COM
Day pass tickets = £22/£19 concessions
Passes entitle delegates to 2 daytime sessions and 2 evening performances each day.
The full conference programme can be found at HOMEAWAY2016.COM
---ARTIST BIOGS
Tareq Abdullah is a writer, poet and director from Glasgow and a key figure within the Scottish
Bengali writing and journalism community.
John Binnie, director and writer of over 30 plays, many for Glasgow’s Clyde Unity Theatre, winner of
three Fringe First awards and an Independent Theatre award. John has worked with the British
Council on numerous occasions, devising new plays and running playwriting workshops in India,
Namibia, Nigeria, Singapore and Germany. He directed a large scale Namibian/Scottish dance piece
Journey at Glasgow’s Tramway, which had a cast of 120 and fused African and Gaelic songs.
Cora Bissett is a director, actor, songwriter and Associate Director at National Theatre of Scotland,
for whom she directed Rites, a production exploring the sensitive subject of female genital
mutilation. Her political musical Glasgow Girls was based on the true story of teenage girls in
Glasgow fighting for the lives of their asylum seeker friends, and won Best New Musical in the Off
West End Awards London in 2013. The production returns to tour the UK in Autumn 2016.
Cora launched her company Pachamama in 2009 with Roadkill, first performed at the Edinburgh
International Festival Fringe, where it won nine awards. Exposing the hidden world of sex trafficking,
Roadkill toured to Glasgow, London, Paris, Chicago and New York, winning an Olivier Award for
Outstanding Production. Other projects include GRIT – The Martyn Bennett Story, which won Event
of the Year at the Trad Awards 2014, and Janis Joplin: Full Tilt, which played sold-out runs at the
Edinburgh International Festival Fringe and at London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Sudip Chakroborthy is a theatre practitioner and Assistant Professor at the Department of Theatre
and Performance Studies at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has directed, designed and
performed in over 20 productions in Bangladesh, Kolkata and London, and has participated in
national and international theatre festivals, including National Theatre of Scotland’s The Tin Forest.
His research specialism is the indigenous theatre of Bangladesh.
Sarah Rose Graber is a director, performer and teaching artist working between the US and the UK.
As a Circumnavigator Scholar, she travelled the world studying theatre for social change. She then
completed a Fulbright Fellowship centred on devising theatre. Sarah Rose has worked with National
Theatre of Scotland, punchdrunk, Fuel, LIFT Festival, Playwrights Studio Scotland, Edinburgh
International Festival Fringe and Scottish Youth Theatre. In Chicago, she’s worked with Strawdog,
Victory Gardens, Northlight, Metropolis Performing Arts and Adventure Stage Chicago.
Dawn Hartley, originally from Ayrshire, trained at London Contemporary Dance School and joined
Michael Clark Company in 1986. After worldwide touring she relocated to Scotland and has worked
freelance in teaching, movement direction, choreography and performance. From 1999-2007 Dawn
worked at Brunton Theatre and initiated an extensive dance programme before joining Scottish
Dance Theatre, where she has developed the company’s reputation for offering excellent teaching,
creative learning and community engagement opportunities at home in Dundee Rep Theatre and on
tour.
Brian Johnson has been a Jamaican theatre practitioner for over ten years where his work has
earned him numerous awards including the Prime Minister Youth Award for Excellence in Arts and
Culture. Brian is an educator in Speech and Drama with children ages 3 to 12 and does youth
advocacy with Articulet Edutainment where he serves as Artistic Director. With Articulet the
emphasis is on using the arts to entertain change in the attitude of Jamaican youth on a range of
social, economic and political issues.
Emma Jones graduated from Aberystwyth University with a degree in Drama and thereafter various
theatre jobs took her from the West End of London to Butlins Entertainment Resort before migrating
north to become the Deputy Chief Electrician at Dundee Rep. In 2006 Emma joined Scottish Dance
Theatre as Technical Manager and is now Head of Production with her work seen in many
international countries including USA, China, India and Brazil.
Chris Lee is a writer, director and performer, who has worked extensively in community and
education settings on a plethora of projects ranging from youth theatre to film and multi art
collaborations. He has previously worked with the National Theatre of Scotland as community
director on The Elgin Macbeth and The Crucible.
Fred Leone is a well-respected community leader, with strong Australian Aboriginal, Tongan and
South-Sea Islander heritage. Fred belongs to the Garawa of Far North West Queensland into the
Northern Territory, and the Butchella of the Fraser Coast region of Queensland South East Coast.
Fred has been the Guest Curator for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s festival Clancestry for
the past three years and Guest Curator of Indigenous content on the opening ceremony of the G20
Cultural Programme. He also collaborated on the official G20 World Leaders’ Welcome to Country
ceremony at the Brisbane Convention Centre. He has developed his 19-year career across the
Indigenous Hip Hop and Queensland Hip Hop movements, community cultural development,
education and youth sectors to become an established performing artist, arts and cultural facilitator,
educator, youth worker, artistic director and creative producer.
Quee MacArthur has created music for a variety of dance and theatre companies, including Scottish
Youth Theatre, Plan B Dance Company, Y Dance, Indepen-dance, BBC Alba and The Scottish Youth
Pipe Band. He wrote and arranged the music for Barrowland Ballet’s The River, which featured in the
Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme and the Greenwich and Docklands Festival. Quee plays bass with
Scottish band Shooglenifty and has also played with Sunhoney, Kaela Rowan, Mouth Music and the
Finlay MacDonald Band.
Rona MacDonald, South Uist-born playwright, poet and writer, from a family of Gaelic singers,
pipers and storytellers. Rona has been and continues to be a key figure in the development of Gaelic
Arts in Glasgow and is Gaelic Editor for Ghetto na Gaidhlig on the political blog Bella Caledonia. She
has four children who have gone through Gaelic Medium Education in Glasgow and this, together
with her own struggle of Home and Away, informs her artistic practice.
Gillebride MacMillan, from South Uist, one of the best know modern Scottish Gaelic singers, winner
of two Gold Medals at the Royal National Mòd and a regular performer at some of the most
prestigious Celtic music festivals throughout the world, including Celtic Connections, Sidmouth Folk
Festival and the Pipes of Christmas in New York.
Judith Parrott, visual artist working across photography, sound and prose, examining relationships
between community and place, the importance of cultural identity and the resulting personal and
environmental wellbeing. She developed her Place Matters series working alongside communities in
Bolivia, Canada, Antarctica, Scotland and Australia. This series follows her own migration from
Scotland to Australia and consequent exploration of issues around displacement.
Renato Rocha is an internationally respected director, who has directed and collaborated with
artists on projects and performances in India, Scotland, Germany, Tanzania, Egypt, New York, Paris
and Colombia, besides Brazil. His current production Acelere, with Circolombia, enjoyed a successful
season at The Roundhouse in London and is now on a world tour that includes visits to Paris,
Blackpool, Sao Paolo, Medellin, Manchester and Madrid. Previous critically acclaimed productions
include Turfed and The Dark Side of Love. He has created shows for the Royal Shakespeare Company
and LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre).
Graeme Roger’s work includes sculpture, film, performance, photography, installations, theatre and
residency projects, often collaborating with other artists and musicians. Projects include residencies
at Culloden Battlefield and Aden Country Park. Graeme was also recipient of the Royal Scottish
Academy Morton Award for lens-based art as part of ROGER & REID. He has worked as a video
designer for theatre, including the National Theatre of Scotland, Mull Theatre, Theatre Hebrides,
Eden Court / Open Book Productions and The Big Fat Electric Ceilidh. Graeme leads the digital team
and 'Cashback for Creativity' program at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.
Puneeta Roy has worked as a director in theatre, film and television for over 25 years and is
Managing Trustee of The Yuva Ekta foundation, a not-for-profit organisation empowering youth
through active citizenship. As she dreams of setting up a Global Youth Citizenship Network, her
vision is directed towards building a more equitable society, one in which underprivileged young
people engage with their more fortunate peers, learn from each other and together create a more
loving, sustainable planet.
Lesley-Ann Welsh is a founding member and current Executive Director of Manifesto Jamaica, a
social enterprise whose mission is to develop and attract opportunities for young people that inspire
creativity, productivity and elevated consciousness by harnessing the talents of nation-builders.
Manifesto Jamaica was founded in 2010 to improve access to inter-disciplinary art education,
business management and entrepreneurship skills specific to creative industries.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The National Theatre of Scotland is dedicated to playing the great stages, arts centres, village halls,
schools and site-specific locations of Scotland, the UK and internationally. As well as creating
ground-breaking productions and working with the most talented theatre-makers, the National
Theatre of Scotland produces significant community engagement projects, innovates digitally and
works constantly to develop new talent. Central to this is finding pioneering ways to reach current
and new audiences and to encourage people’s full participation in the Company’s work. With no
performance building of its own, the Company works with existing and new venues and companies
to create and tour theatre of the highest quality. Founded in 2006, the Company, in its short life, has
become a globally significant theatrical player, with an extensive repertoire of award-winning work.
The National Theatre of Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government.
www.nationaltheatrescotland.com
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is an international charitable foundation with cultural,
educational, social and scientific interests. Based in Lisbon with offices in London and Paris, the
Foundation is in a privileged position to support national and transnational work tackling
contemporary issues. The purpose of the UK Branch is to bring about long-term improvements in
well-being, particularly for the most vulnerable, by creating connections across boundaries (national
borders, communities, disciplines and sectors) which deliver social, cultural and environmental
value. We support innovative projects and partnerships within time-limited and purposeful strands
of activity. For more information about the work of the Foundation in the UK visit Partnerships and
Initiatives at www.gulbenkian.org.uk
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational
opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries
and build trust between them worldwide. We work in more than 100 countries and our 8,000 staff
work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by
teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes. Arts is a
cornerstone of the British Council’s mission to create a friendly knowledge and understanding
between the people of the UK and the wider world.
Through Arts for Social Change, we extend safe spaces for culture, creative exploration and
exchange; building trust, enabling dialogue and presenting marginalised voices. We work with
emerging and established artists in the UK and overseas to support and promote their work, which
contributes to security and stability by creating alternative pathways, and through building
understanding, tolerance and cooperation.
For more information on our work in the Arts, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/arts
Glasgow Life is the charity which runs services and facilities on behalf of Glasgow City Council that
includes arts, music, major events, libraries, museums and sport. We work in every area of the city
and with every community to try and inspire Glasgow’s citizens and visitors to lead richer and more
active lives through culture, sport and learning. Glasgow Life also stages high profile events such as
Celtic Connections, the World Pipe Band Championships, Aye Write! Glasgow’s Book Festival,
Glasgow Loves Christmas and major sporting events such as the Ingnis Asset Management Women’s
10K road race and The Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run. More than 18 million attendances were
recorded to the facilities run by Glasgow Life across the city between 2015 and 2016.