Separately, an email from someone at Birmingham City Council, put me in touch with the REP Theatre, where we found a very warm welcome and started meeting in their community hub and making ourselves at home.
And so we launched into the project of creating, producing and performing "something".
We started off by working with writer Steven Camden, who did an amazing job of drawing out stories and identifying and collating the words and phrases that spoke of our experiences. Most importantly, he helped us capture the essence of what we wanted to express: the struggles and frustrations of a hostile system, yes, but above all the laughter and the joy of who we are. When he turned up on his second week with a box of samosas it was pretty clear he'd understood how we roll!
With the script written it was the turn of the composer, Dani, and singers and musicians to come in and create a score to reflect and enhance the words. After the first session one of the members of the groups summed up how we were feeling about this bit by stating, with admiration, "they speak music" ...
Even before the score was complete, the third stage of practicing and preparing to perform was well underway. Not everyone in the group wanted to be on stage, and there was never going to be any pressure to do so. The cast shifted and changed week by week (up to and including on the day itself!) but we also watched as people's confidence grew and something we could imagine seeing on stage began to take shape.
Each stage began without us knowing the exact direction it might take. Each stage resulted in something beautiful.
Eventually, after a few changes along the way, a date and venue was set and invitations were sent out to schools across the city, optimistic of a positive response but without really knowing what the uptake might be.
Yesterday, members of Stories of Hope and Home, together with singers and musicians from Welsh National Opera performed "Refugee: what do you know about me?" to an audience of 500 school children and their staff and other invited guests in the main house at the Birmingham Rep.
It was a magical day, the culmination of an incredible project.
Of course, like with any significant project there was a lot of work involved and a few stresses and strains along the way: it would be silly to suggest otherwise, but the they had all dissipated by the time the house lights dimmed.
There was the sharing of stories to evoke pain and frustration and stories to make people smile or laugh.
There were beautiful arias and catchy choruses.
There was speech and there was song.
There were words and music combining to tell stories that need to be heard.
There were performers and an audience who felt like they were having a lot of fun along the way.
There is no doubt in my mind it was definitely worth it.
* * *
Stories of Hope and Home can trace its origins to a play my St Chad's Sanctuary ESOL class performed during refugee week 2019, a beautiful day and experience from which I came away thinking "more of this". Stories of Hope and Home was the "more of this". It was always part of the plan that there would be another play in refugee week 2020. It wasn't to be.
Plenty of other things have happened in the interim and the project has developed in expected and unexpected ways and become something more beautiful than my wildest dreams of what might be possible in the beginning.
It may have taken longer than expected to get back on stage but what a stage it was, and well worth the wait! What a privilege to share a stage with this truly wonderful group of people I am lucky enough to call my friends.
I am not planning to use this latest performance as a springboard for setting up an entirely new project: Stories of Hope and Home still has so much more to give and to to be. But I remain excited for what new adventures lie ahead for this project and the people in it who make it so special.
Beautiful. I hope these amazing seeds of faith and hope keep growing into exactly what they are meant to become.
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