“No one leaves home… Unless home is the mouth of a shark”

Sharing the stories of those who have travelled across land and water to seek refuge, the things we think we know and the things we’re told to believe… Opening our hearts and minds to listen, to really listen.  

Staged on the banks of the Thames, this theatrical experience mixes the soul-stirring poetry of Warsan Shire (Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Black is King) with live performance directed by Olivier-winning director Matthew Xia, dramaturgy by Francesca Beard (Post-Truth Apocalypse) and live music by Britain’s most celebrated Oud player Rihab Azar. 

Performed by Laila Alj and devised with community groups from across London, Bodies of Water  marks the fourth collaboration between Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and Actors Touring Company following the critically acclaimed sell-out production of The Architect (2023), Family Tree (2021) and 846 Live (2020). Design by Simon Kenny. Choir performance by The Gold Collective.

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Watch Channel 4 Reporting – Using theatre to reframe the image of migrants

Performances

Tuesday 27 August – Saturday 31 August 2024

Bodies of Water is supported by Royal Borough of Greenwich ,Royal Greenwich Festivals, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, Arts Council England  and FESTIVAL.ORG. With thanks to The Ahoy Centre, Women for Refugee Women, Woolich Common Community Centre, All Change Arts, Creating Ground, and Holland House.