The New Writing / New Normal International Theatre Festival 5 - 6 February 2021

 

We are happy to announce the next New Writing / New Normal International Theatre Festival on 6 February 2021.  Over a 24 hour period, new plays will be written, rehearsed and performed via a digital platform.  

 

The performance of the new plays will take place at 1800 on Saturday 6 February on You Tube Live.   To book tickets, please visit our Eventbrite Page.  Tickets are 'pay what you can' and can be paid for via the Just Giving Site.

This festival expands on the two successful New Writing / New Normal Theatre Festival in July & October 2020, which included contributors from around the world.  For more information about the past two festivals, please visit our YouTube Page. 

 

 

Tupumue / Let Us Breathe film for the SEAMHH Breath Symposium

Working with two Kenyan filmmakers, I recently directed a short film, Tupumue / Let Us Breathe film which is a rumination on breath and moments of dealing with breathing, inhaling and exhaling in the informal settlement of Mukuru, outside of Nairobi in Kenya [2020].

The film can be viewed here:

https://breath.medicalandhealthhumanities.africa/tupumue-let-us-breathe/

 

The soundtrack is the song Pumua Fiti Ishi Fiti (Live Well, Breathe Well) feat The Tupumue Music Crew and Lung Health Champions:

Lyrics 

Celestine Osore 

Bob Orengo 

Rafat We Ni Chizii

Saleh Peris Angulu

Dennis Waweru Ngugi

Music

Celestine Osore

Bob Orengo

Rafat We Ni Chizii

Saleh Peris Angulu 

Dennis Waweru Ngugi

 

The Tupumue study is looking at the lung health of children in two communities in Nairobi, Kenya.  For more information about the study, please visit https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/tupumue.

Follow us on Twitter @TupumueP

The Peacock Theatre Festival for Civil Liberties

The coronavirus outbreak has demanded unprecedented economic, social and public health measures to be put in place by governments across the globe to tackle the spread of the pandemic. But governments worldwide are alarmingly choosing to implement additional draconian authoritarian measures under the pretext of the crisis, rather than the policies needed to protect people. The theatre needs to be clear that our civil liberties are not up for negotiation and organise in defence of them.

Since March 2020, The Common Air Theatre Company has been curating a virtual rolling theatre festival, The Peacock Festival of Civil Liberties, as part of wider solidarity against any such authoritarian creep in the UK and abroad. The name of the festival derives from the phrase that is used to describe the creep currently occurring in Hungary under Viktor Orban. As he explains, his Peacock Dance is a choreographed dance carefully executed which is intended to fool his negotiating partners. His ‘dance’ posits that after removing 100% of our freedoms, gaining back 80% of these freedoms will feel like ‘normalcy’ with scant realisation that the goalpost has moved.

The YouTube page will serve as a rolling repository of pieces that reflect the theme as and when pieces come in.

For the online festival, we are seeking fully produced new & old work that addresses this authoritarian creep [no more than 15 minutes in length]. Please be in touch if you would be interested in being involved in this project - HAHN@HOTMAIL.CO.UK.

 

Pieces can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEC9eZYSmM1QNvqTOv-x_5Q