Theatre company Maison Foo has secured almost £50,000 from Arts Council England to develop its multi-sensory Meet Your Neighbour refugee project across the UK.
The work will “celebrate and give voice to many of the wonderful people who make up the sanctuary-seeking community in the UK”.
Meet Your Neighbour will use audio recordings of stories collected from refugee and asylum seekers to connect audiences with some of their newly arrived neighbours.
The finished experience will tour alongside the company’s show A Thing Mislaid in 2021 as part of Maison Foo’s plan to engage and meet not only audiences who visit theatres but also those who live in the communities that surround them.
In 2020, the piece will be developed in Derby, Leicester and Sheffield working with Derby Theatre, Derby Refugee Advice Centre, Attenborough Arts Centre, Journeys Festival International and Migration Matters festival.
Maison Foo artistic director Bethany Sheldon said, “after our successful preview tour of A Thing Mislaid last year—a show that touches on themes of migration—we came away feeling that we didn’t just want to tour this show to theatres in isolation but we also wanted to build stronger communities in the places we toured to.
“The Meet Your Neighbour strand of our work is about breaking down barriers, getting to know one another and hopefully making new friends too. So whether that’s through someone who stops to have a cup of tea and listen to a refugee’s story at our Meet Your Neighbour installation on their high street or someone who comes along to one of our Meet Your Neighbour parties, we hope we can do our bit to build a welcoming and supportive community in the places we visit.”
The company will test early ideas at Derby Theatre on Saturday 14 December when Maison Foo will co-host their third Meet Your Neighbour party event.
Derby Theatre will give away 50 matinée tickets to A Christmas Carol so that newcomers to Derby can experience a traditional British cultural activity.