Ironing Out Work in Progress performances, the journey continues….

 “I liked the rapping, mime and shadow puppets. It was really beautiful, current and sad. So much going on bringing together narratives of migration, gentrification and community.” L, 30, from Lewisham.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the play, it demonstrated the issues migrants in London face today […] We are all affected.” K, 21, Camden 

In June we took part of Refugee Week 2019 at Theatre Deli and Blue Elephant Theatre.

We performed Ironing Out on the 23rd and 24th June at the beautiful Blue Elephant Theatre. We sold out on the second night! Here are some shots:

 

 

Most of these pictures were taken by Nadia Oshitudo from I Am Hip Hop. THANK YOU!!

These performances were made possible thanks to our second week of residency at Theatre Deli during the Beyond Borders Festival. We had an amazing sharing on Tuesday 18th June, followed by a really engaging discussion with the audience. Thank you to everyone that attended!! some photos:

 

We are going to take all that wonderful energy, support, love, critical feedback and carry on working on the play… so watch this space!

Also a massive thanks to all our supporters and fellow creatives- Arts Council England, Blue Elephant Theatre, Theatre Deli, Chris Johnston Memorial Fund, I Am Hip Hop Magazine, Collectif and then…, Kazeem, Sara A, Niamh, Alice, Jo, Mimy, Lucy, Fran, Jonah, Colin, River, Amour, Emily, Apex, Nadia, Emma …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we’re back! Ironing Out performances and events June 2019

We’re excited to be performing again and sharing with you our exciting new work. We will be performing Ironing Out (work in progress- full performances) at Blue Elephant Theatre on the 23rd and 24th of June 2019 as part of Refugee Week 2019. Grab your tickets here.

We will also be doing a sharing (free/donation) of some bits of Ironing Out at Theatre Deli on the 18th June 2019, where we have been developing our show. The sharing will be an occasion to see parts of our new play and then have an open discussion afterwards. This will be part of Theatre Deli’s Beyond Borders Festival. Book your place here. 

As usual hit us up with any questions/ comments/ suggestions… alleyway.company@gmail.com

Residency at Theatre Deli part 1

During the week of the 21st April to the 26th April, 8 artists from the collective came together at Theatre Deli Old Library to embark on our first week of residency to develop Ironing Out. 

The space was truly magical, set in the middle of Burgess Park in Camberwell. The good vibes and the sunshine meant that we really immersed ourselves into creation.

We were lucky to have been supported by Lucie N’Duhirahe, Kazeem Tosin Amore, Sara Alsaraf and River who each delivered devising sessions to help us along the journey.

Our characters took on a lot more shape, we developed our ideas and delved deeper into our understanding of what we want to create, and how we will go about it.

For those of you who have seen our scratch performance last autumn, let’s just say that the play gets a little bit more grounded, there are forces threatening the Ironing Shop and the community around it and the search for Ahmed and those who were lost begins to take on a different turn…  

We had a lot of fun learning new games from each other, singing, writing, improvising and eating together. We also managed to collectively crack 2 padlock codes but we promise we won’t use our newly found skills for any unjustified business.

This week was made possible through the support of Arts Council England, Theatre Deli, Blue Elephant Theatre, Rideout/ Chris Johnston Memorial Fund and Collectif and Then… . THANK YOU.

Watch out for part 2 and information about our upcoming performances coming soon!

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Ironing Out – more coming soon…

After our sold out scratch performance at Camden People’s Theatre, we’re gearing up for a couple of weeks of R&D and some work in progress performances where we are going to take Ironing Out to the next stage… more details coming soon!

So if you are wondering if we have found Ahmed, if the Iron Man has reappeared or if we are still headed to the sea, watch this space!

Meanwhile we thought we’d post some thoughts we received after the sharing:

Director Colin Ellwood (RSC/ Rideout): ‘’Very rewarding to see a show of such potential – full of ideas played with such commitment!’’

Artistic Director Niamh de Valera (Blue Elephant Theatre): “We’re consistently impressed by Alleyway RT’s dedication to creating work out of and in difficult circumstances. IO as a scratch piece was engaging, multifaceted and absurd, with great potential for development. There’s a huge amount of ambition and creativity behind the company and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can create with more resources and support.”

We’re feeling the love… and we are gonna work hard to bring you more! If you saw the show and you have some feedback for us, good or bad that you’ve been keeping to yourself, now is the time to drop us a line in the comments or by email.. Also follow us on instagram @alleyway.company

We’re performing again! Come watch ‘Ironing Out’ on the 29th October at Camden People’s Theatre

‘Ironing Out’ is an exploration of resistance, surviving, laughing and creating community all the while living with the shadow of mental health, exile, injustice, racism and living in between ‘here’ and ‘there’.

It is different characters looking for Ahmed, for their sight, their brothers and sisters who were lost in the sea, their freedom, their lost revolution or an understanding of why this country isn’t a safe place after all. They all come to the Iron Man in his ironing shop, and end up creating a sort of community where they share some of their journeys and encourage each other to go on a new journey of their own. They open windows to realities which exist around them and in their minds. They sing, dance, move in shadows and spit poetry.

We will be sharing ‘Ironing Out’ as a work in progress at Camden People’s Theatre on the 29th of Ocober 7.30pm as part of the ‘No Direction Home festival’. On the night you get to watch 3 other short plays for £12/£10 concessions and you can get your tickets here: https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/production/big-bang-2/

We hope to see you there!!

Support from the Chris Johnston Memorial Fund

We are really happy to announce that we have received a grant from the Chris Johnston Memorial Fund for the development of our new play ‘Ironing Out’ over the coming months.  

The Chris Johnston Memorial Fund was set up to support the professional development of new theatre makers whose interests lie in the creation of work with and/or for communities. Alleyway Radical Theatre is one of four projects to have been selected, the other projects are the developing and performing of a short play by prison inmates for their families; the establishment of a community theatre group in a deprived inner-city area; and the creation of an interactive production examining modern slavery in a nail bar setting.

One of the trustees of the fund, Saul Hewish said this about the projects which received the grant: “At the core of all of them is a motivation to explore how improvisation can be used to address issues of social justice. Chris would be proud to be associated with all of them.’’

Chris Johnston was co-founder and co-director of Rideout between 1999 and 2017 and a passionate exponent of theatre and social justice. Through his work with Fluxx, he was a pioneer in the development of longer-form drama improvisation strategies (‘Citizen Theatre’) to help communities explore themes of local and national concern. The theory and practice of his work are explored in his books; House of Games, The Improvisation Game, Drama Games for Those Who Like to Say No, and Disobedient Theatre.

We are really grateful and humbled by this support.

Rest in Power Chris Johnston.

 

Young Roots workshop August 2018

 

We delivered a shadow theatre workshop to the young people at Young Roots, an organisation which supports young refugees in London, offering case work and activities. During the workshop we did some creative games and then let the young people explore how to move behind the screen, how to make shadow theatre puppets, animate them and interact with them. The workshop was fun with some participants creating beautiful and colourful cutouts, including many animals, a flag and a football. We also witnessed some beautiful dance moves from a group of young men from Afghanistan. Thank you to Young Roots, hope to see you again soon!

If you would like us to deliver a workshop please contact alleyway.company@gmail.com

Below you can see some of the videos and pictures from the workshop:

Stop Motion animation workshop at Doddington and Rollo roof garden

On saturday 3rd of June we delivered a stopmotion animation workshop in Battersea at the Doddington and Rollo Roof Garden fun day. The workshop was led by one of our members, Basel, an artist who learned and taught stopmotion in workshops in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Children and grown ups created their own characters out of plasticine and wire and then animated them on sets, one was a playground and the other a swimming pool in nature. We then took pictures and everyone made their own story puttinG the pictures together in a short film. Have a look below at all the wonderful creations. Thanks to the Doddington and Rollo Community Roof Garden for a really fun and creative day!

 

 

Shadow Theatre workshop at Allsorts, Heart n Soul, Albany Theatre

On Thursday 25th of May we delivered a shadow theatre workshop at Allsorts in the Albany Theatre. Allsorts is a weekly day of creativity, learning, sharing and fun organised by Heart n Soul,  ”an award-winning creative arts company and charity which believes in the talents and power of people with learning disabilities, providing opportunities for people to discover, develop and share this power and talent as widely as possible.” . The workshop was led by one of our members, Ainoa, a puppeteer and theatre practicioner with experience delivering workshops to adults and children with SEN. It was a wonderful day, participants explored and experienced shadow theatre and created amazing works which they shared at the end of the day with everyone involved in Allsorts. The performances ranged from a story created collectively by the first group of participants about mermaids, monsters, the city and heroes; a story about a duck circus with a juggling act, a ghost story, a harry potter spin off, boxers and more. Some were accompanied by music chosen by those taking part in the workshops and others by live percussion. Thanks to everyone that came and to all those involved in Allsorts!

Learn more about Heart n Soul here: http://www.heartnsoul.co.uk

Take a look below for some of the works produced and performed by participants as well as pictures from the day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pictures from Hazelfest warm up family event

Thanks to the audience who braved the rain, the Work & Play Scrapstore, the Wandsworth Fringe and all the wonderful artists who took part, Lekan, Aron, Le Hornet, DJ Steaz, Basel and Jazzar Katibe 5, DJ Steaz, Bubbleon and Alleyway Radical Theatre! It was a beautiful gathering full powerful sounds and visuals.