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NATIONAL THEATRE WALES’ DE GABAY TO LINK BUTETOWN, CARDIFF WITH GLOBAL SOMALI DIASPORA THROUGH POETRY, VIDEO AND MUSIC, OVER THREE DAYS |
COMPANY CALLS ON LOCAL TALENT TO JOIN PREPARATIONS FOR THIS LIVE-STREAMED PRODUCTION EXAMINING THE FOUR AGES OF MAN The first production in National Theatre Wales’ third season, De Gabay [The Poem], will be a three-day, site-specific exploration of the Butetown area of Cardiff, with a focus on the lives of its young Somali poets and the generations that came before them, and performed by the community. Starting on Friday 1st March 2013 (St David’s Day), audiences in Butetown will move from private living rooms to wide boulevards, swept along by both intimate and large-scale spectacular performances including two extraordinary parades. Audiences around the world will be able to interact with and watch the production, as well as films made in and by international Somali communities. Events will be held across the weekend, much of them free to attend. A group of young poets including Ahmed Hassan, Ali Goolyad, Hassan Panero and Ahmed Yusuf came to National Theatre Wales 18 months ago with their idea for De Gabay – the song of their lives as young British-born Somali men. Eager to change media and public perceptions of the Somali community, they were inspired by their involvement in National Theatre Wales’ January 2011 production in Butetown, The Soul Exchange. In March 2013, they will tell their own stories of what brought them to Butetown, and what happens next. A call to the community A string of public events will be held from November 2012 to encourage and invite the local community to take part. There are many opportunities to get involved at many different levels, including volunteer and paid roles as performers, actors, dancers, musicians, singers, wardrobe staff, technicians, cooks, stewards, videomakers, bloggers, photographers and many more. Preparations for De Gabay will kick off with two key events: • IdeasExchange 05 – On the Road to De Gabay on Saturday 24th November 2012, at 7.30pm, at the Coal Exchange, Mount Stuart Square, Butetown, Cardiff. This FREE event will include poetry, performance and debate. It will give loval residents a chance to hear more about De Gabay, and how they can get involved. • Word4Word on Friday 30th November 2012, at 7.30pm, in Butetown Community Centre, Loudon Square, Butetown. A FREE spoken-word event on the theme of Journeys, in which anyone can participate, and headlined by Hassan Panero. To take one of the 10 slots available or for more information, contact teamword4word@gmail.com. Further events will be announced in the coming months at community.nationaltheatrewales.org/group/degabay. National Theatre Wales’ Artistic Director, John McGrath, said: "Butetown and its residents will play a starring role in De Gabay, so we're asking anyone and everyone in the area who want to get involved in any aspect of the production - design, performance, technical, whatever they're interested in - to get in touch now and tell us what they'd like to do. This is a hugely ambitious project that is very close to our hearts, and we want to share the experience of making it - and the joy of experiencing the finished product - with as many people as possible." De Gabay is being produced with support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s participatory performing arts programme. National Theatre Wales was awarded £175,000 in June 2011 for the development of a new performance piece of uncompromising quality which brings together leading professionals and people from local communities. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation UK Director, Andrew Barnett said: “We want to identify and support practice that breaks down barriers between professional artists and non-professionals in a way that gives voice to some of the most marginalised in society. Our aim is that on-going connections should be established between participants and communities with demonstrable social and cultural benefits. De Gabay, a production with the ambition to change negative public perceptions of British Somalis, is an inspiring, community-led project from the heart of Butetown, Cardiff, which will engage local and international audiences in performances of uncompromising quality that are both intimate and spectacular.” |
| NATIONAL THEATRE WALES web site: community.nationaltheatrewales.org/group/degabay |
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Friday, November 16, 2012 |
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