Nottingham Playhouse has been given a Theatre of Sanctuary award which recognises that it has become a “welcoming, safe and enjoyable space” for refugees and asylum seekers.
The award “acknowledges the theatre's ongoing endeavours to share stories and culture from people with lived experience along with its cultivation of wider engagement in the arts in the city”.
Specific examples of work that charts the experience of asylum seekers and refugees include Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, which premièred at the Playhouse in 2013, and Diane Samuels’s Kindertransport which the theatre produced in 2018.
Chief executive Stephanie Sirr said, "Nottingham Playhouse exists to welcome everybody. It’s interested in hearing everyone's story. People who come here have a right to refuge—a genuinely safe space to share stories and conversation. We keep that possible through removing whatever barriers we can."
The Playhouse has announced an extension of plays that are offered digitally, with the return of the series of dramas Still Life featuring Frances de la Tour and Julie Hesmondhalgh which bring to life untold stories of the city under lockdown. It will be available until 31 May 2022.
Ramps on The Moon's adapation of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist by Bryony Lavery will be available from 25 October until 20 November.