Walk in, sit down. No Islington apartheid school for we
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LYRICAL MC
Written for the stage by Sita Brahmachari with verbatim text from Britains multicultural school students Directed by Kristine Landon-Smith Assistant Director Amit Sharma Performed by the members of REWRITES REACT youth theatre 5 February 11 March 2008 Performances across London at Oval House Theatre, Soho Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, Half Moon Young Peoples Theatre See below for full performance schedule Walk in, sit down. No Islington apartheid school for we LYRICAL MC is the new show from Tamasha about young people in a multicultural world: it illuminates the sophisticated, lyrical cultural exchange that is happening between young people in urban schools, every day. It is directed by Tamashas artistic director Kristine Landon-Smith and performed in choral style by young Londoners from Southwark-based youth theatre REACT. LYRICAL MC explores different characters and scenes that take place in and around urban schools. Stories and dreams, posing and posturing, allegiances and rivalries and acutely observed characters soon emerge as we tune into the subtext of their lyrical daily chat. LYRICAL MC is not just one story. LYRICAL MC was created by Tamasha from material collected in workshops in a range of four inner city schools around Britain, by applying the same rehearsal practice to workshops with young people. Tamasha is one of the UKs leading new writing theatre companies and is best known for its groundbreaking production East is East and more recently for its acclaimed adaptation of A Fine Balance and the cult comedy The Trouble With Asian Men. REACT is part of Rewrite, a grassroots arts charity that works with young people from different backgrounds to break down barriers of prejudice and discrimination around issues of refuge and asylum. Young people come together to work on drama and creative writing projects, in an active demonstration of collaboration and solidarity. At the heart of Tamashas work and raison detre is a unique practice of exploring how an artist brings their cultural context to a work, in order to make a work. Director Kristine Landon-Smith says this show embodies our practice I actively encourage each performer or student to bring their own history, culture language and accent to the forefront of their work - I try to create an atmosphere of openness where culture play in the rehearsal room is the norm. This same practice was used in our work with the young people who gave us the verbatim texts for LYRICAL MC - hence a myriad of stories where the confidence of cultural exchange between characters and performers is the guiding light. Rehearsals take place once week on Monday evenings throughout November February. The youth theatre members have the opportunity to work around the practice and context of a professional theatre company. Amit Sharma is working on the production through the companys artist development programme, Tamasha Developing Artists. LYRICAL MC is an incredible, unique collaboration that brings these young people into professional practice. Tamasha needed to work with REACT on this show: their instant identification with the stories that make up LYRICAL MC is essential. LYRICAL MC NOTES Tamasha means commotion, creating a stir. Our goal is to transform theatre to create a space for the development of British Asian talent, through original writing and productions that provoke debate, ideas, passion and laughter. Tamasha is the product of a unique partnership between director Kristine Landon-Smith and actor / playwright Sudha Bhuchar. Together they have inspired and challenged audiences over 18 years with major productions from their debut Untouchable, through to Tamasha-commissioned East is East and Balti Kings and the recently acclaimed A Fine Balance. At Tamasha the writing comes first. We are major investors in new writing, with the aim of retelling our histories, revealing the hidden stories and sharing the complexities of the world with modern theatre audiences. We draw on history, culture and evolving languages to evoke the complexities and subtleties of cultural connection and difference . Tamasha is more than theatre production. We are nurturers of artistic talent and innovative practice. Our aim is to bring British Asian talent centre-stage. Through our programme Tamasha Developing Artists, we have been able to discover and support new Asian artists of all disciplines. Our Development Awards provide direct support for promising artists and enable Tamasha to pioneer the showcasing of original work from British Asian playwrights, directors and designers. Tamasha productions do more than tell a story. They reflect an approach which is curious about the world - sophisticated, fearless, and funny. A key part of our mission is to take our stories to a national and increasingly international audience. Today Tamasha is embarking upon a new phase, to grow the hub we have created for the best in British Asian talent, the platform for challenging new work and the catalyst for a real change in the way theatre tells all our stories. |
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