 YEAR ONE OF THE URBAN
MUSIC THEATRE PROGRAMME - 2006
INTRODUCTION
2006 ARTISTIC TEAM
FEEDBACK
SUMMARY
OF KEY FINDINGS
 In
its first year the Urban Music Theatre programme engaged 320 young
people from diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds who took
part in outreach, launch day and development workshops. In its final stages the
project bought together a culturally diverse cast of 61 young
people from across Greater Manchester who worked on an innovative
youth production of These City Streets.
Workshops were led a dedicated team of 10 artists who worked extremely
hard to make this project successful for the young people.
These City Streets was perfomed at the Zion Centre
in December 2006 and told a story of a young brother and sister
who arrive from West Africa as two unaccompanied asylum
seekers. It was performed as an all consuming physical and visual
experience, fusing a range of arts disciplines, street dance with theatre,
African with contemporary dance moves and digital imagery with a live music
score, performed live by a talented cast of young people who committed
their time over a four month period to devise a truly exciting performance.
Chris Sudworth, the Director worked with young people to devise
and write the script that came directly from their shared experiences.
He then skilfully brought all the different art forms into one final performance.
For the two nights of the performance, the audience were invited to interact with
the production, moving around with the production, initially experiencing an
aeroplane journey as travellers to being part of party crowd, out on a Friday night.
During the course of the production the two lead characters, Vava and
Efua find themselves alone and lost in the city centre of Manchester on a
busy Friday night after landing at Manchester Airport. Their journey
takes them through a range of experiences within their first 18
hours of arriving in a new city. As they try and resolve their
situation with accommodation they come across a range of different attitudes from
people living in a 24hour vibrant city. The production raised awareness of
the experiences of young, destitute asylum seekers and encouraged the audience to
assess how they can help these young people.
The story in These City Streets is based on stories that were told by the young
people about their own experiences of arriving and living in the UK.
Eighteen-year-old Angolan Valdo Da Silva played the lead role in the production and also
contributed much of the storyline from his own experiences.
'It was my grandmother who broke the news to me that I was to leave
for England and I was just eight when I made the journey on my
own to join my Dad. I can recall being
quite excited but also very scared and bewildered, particularly
when the plane touched down in another country first and everyone
got off and I was on my own'.
Other young people of Refugee and Asylum background also expressed
the importance of this project to their lives in Manchester. Younis
Jamil, 14, from Eritrea, now living
in Wigan said:
'I really like this project; it has given me something
to do and to feel part of. I've been living in Wigan for nearly
six years
and have never done anything like this
before. When my family first moved to Wigan it was really hard
to find somewhere good to stay and this is like the story that
is told in These City Streets'.
There were other significant changes in the confidence of some of the Manchester-based
refugee and asylum seeker young people. Three young people who do not want to be
identified have since gone on to apply for other arts initiatives in the city such as
Contact Young Actors Company (CYAC), writers' workshops, attended poetry events and
further drama workshops.
These city streets would not have been possible without the dedication
and commitment from:
2006
Artistic Team
Director: Chris Sudworth
Lead Artists: Magdalen Bartlett, Jaydev Mistry, Jerry Tse, Adrian Ball, James Green,
Supporting Artists: Meena Pindoria, Tasha Turner, Joe Harrison, Charles Denton
Digital Arts Manager: Amy Cham (CAN)
Exodus AGMA Manager: Sarah Sayeed (CAN)
Project Support: Leon Patel
Lighting Designer: David Martin (CAN)
Lighting Operator: Curtis Lewis
Stage Manager: Stacey Potter
Sound Engineer: Tasos Sotiriou
Photographers: Stacey Potter, Jason Locke
Video Documentation: Stacey Potter, Recardo vilela, Alan Amin, Amy Cham
Marketing Consultant: Sara Teiger
Project Evaluator: Jez Dolan
Graphic Designers: Reform Creative (Paul Heaton and Graham)
Volunteers: Rossana Rodriguez, Ruth Tyldesley, Martin Livesly, Louisa Choi
Backstage Support: Rosalind Sandhu
Builder: Phil Radcliff
Casual Staff: Louis Entwistle, Borhan, Kate Bell
Young
Voices - Feedback from These City Streets Cast, 2006
I'm glad I took part in this project because...
'I was able to learn about different cultures'.
'I learnt different music and how to compose a tune'.
'It is fun and helped my confidence grow'.
'It was stimulating and kept me busy'.
The funniest thing about the project was'...
'Trying to learn the song- I can't sing'.
'The leaders of the group, they rock'.
'Everything really'.
' Improvising a silly scene in front of everyone'.
The best moment was...
'Learning new skills'.
'Meeting the dance teachers and learning new routines.'
'Being told the whole idea for the show. It's a really exciting concept and
I can't wait for its exposure'.
'Getting a role in the play'.
'When we all had a joke'.
'All of it was important; I think playing drama games was fun'.
Summary of Key
Findings
NUMBER OF PEOPLE WORKING ON THE PROGRAMME
27 employment opportunities were created in 2006
4 Volunteers
2 Exodus Refugee Trainees
NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE
320 Young people took part the programme in 2006
253 local host young people (79%)
67 (21%) refugee & asylum seeker young people
AUDIENCE
240 people attended the performance over two nights
PARTNERSHIP WORK
We formed partnerships with four lead Youth Service agencies and
two venue providers:
ROCHDALE YOUTH SERVICE
BURY YOUTH SERVICE
PARENTING AND PREVENTION TEAM
WIGAN CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S SERVICE (RAFIKI)
ZION ARTS
PROCTORS YOUTH CENTRE
OUTREACH WORK
We ran outreach workshops with nine youth agencies during June 2006. This entailed
2-4 workshops with each organisation, offering young people samplers in different art forms:
PAYP Connextions in Wythenshawe, Get together youth group and
24/7 young carers project part of Multi Agency Partnership for disabled
children (MAP), City Centre Project, Young Separated
Asylum Seekers Project, Manchester Foyer, City College ESOL Department,
Rochdale Youth Service, Gorse Hill Youth Club, Proctor's Youth Club
WHAT THE PARTNERS SAID ABOUT THE PROJECT
In 2006, the commitment and dedication of the youth workers had a
huge impact on the delivery of the programme. Their regular support
gave over 40 young people the access to this programme on a regular
basis.
Mahmood Ahmed & Younis Atcha - Wigan Children and Young People's
Service - Rafiki Project:
'Young people have clearly developed their confidence levels. Time
spent in the theatre is not just about performing, but about listening
to instructions,
communication and social skills'.
Matt Sumners & Lynne De Nobrega - Bury Youth Service
'Our Senior Manager came to visit, we felt really proud of Johnny
doing rap in front of people -He was oozing confidence - whereas
he originally was quite shy & unconfident. His confidence & self
esteem has gone through the roof (as have the others)'.
Sarah Butterworth & Jamshed Miah - Rochdale Youth Service
'As youth workers, it has been really positive to network, share practice and find new
opportunities. We will take examples of good practice back home'.
Alison Ahmed, Nicola Townley, Adrian Holland - Parenting and Prevention Team
'The project has improved Young peoples confidence, musical knowledge,
communication skills, behavior and created awareness of Asylum and immigration issues'.
WHAT THE ARTISTS THOUGHT ABOUT THE PROJECT
Artists also expressed that the team building exercise really useful at the beginning of the
programme as it helped them bond and dialogue as a team. Overall the artists showed full
commitment to the programme and have advised of artistic changes for 2007.
Jaydev Mistry, the Musical director and workshop facilitator told us that, 'The
initial skill sharing sessions between all the artists were very important exercises
in team building. The subject matter we were exploring is extremely important and was
pleased to be engaged in a project that set out to tackle these issues'.
Jerry Tse, the Hip Hop dance facilitator expressed, 'What I found particularly
satisfying during the project was seeing some of the dancers develop and grow in confidence,
both through their dancing and maturity'. However, what he felt did not work was,
'New people joining workshops each week and getting the script for the production
too close to rehearsals'.
What did you find particularly successful or satisfying during the project?
'The personal development of the young people'.
'Artistic collaboration'.
'The opportunity to work with a wide range of diverse young people'.
'Watching some of the dancers grow in both dancing and maturity'.
WHAT THE AUDIENCE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PROJECT
We had 240 people in the audience over two nights, some of whom were friends and
family of participants.
'The production showed different people and cultures, expression of feelings. I thought it
was great that all the young people were involved and hope that it will make them want
to continue being involved in the arts'.
'Liked how they used drama, dance, and incorporated the artisans into the show to explain
the issues. Two of my daughters were in the show. For them, it gave them a constructive
use of their time and to meet people from different backgrounds to understand how life
can be different for them as well'.
'The theme is very topical at the moment, people are really split about it, and it is something
that people need to be educated about. I think the subject matter was very good. I
think people don't really consider everyone's viewpoint when considering immigration, so
it really came across tonight'.
These City Streets was part of CAN's Urban Music Theatre Programme
and the Exodus Onstage Refugee Theatre Season 2006 that ran across Greater Manchester.
IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT PLEASE CONTACT:
Michelle Udogu, Artistic Producer
Community Arts North West
Green Fish Resource Centre
46-50 Oldham Street
Manchester M4 1LE
Direct Line: 0161 234 2980
Fax: 0161 234 2976
Mobile: 07811 908817
Email: michelle@can.uk.com |
