Mandala Theatre Company uses the power of performance to change young lives, build communities and foster social justice. They are a diversity-led company who not only connects people, but brings them together, because they believe that the arts are a force for change.
Although it is Arts Council Project Funded, the current global pandemic has hit hard and the theatre company needs funds to support survival and sustainability through and post the pandemic.
Yasmin Sidhwa, Artistic Director of Mandala Theatre says:
“The arts, and theatre especially, are suffering during this time. But the stories coming out in the mainstream are about the large organisations, the well-known venues, who do of course need saving. But what about us? As per the work being carried out currently by the organisation CharitySoWhite who are highlighting the issue of structural racism within the charity and funding sectors, it has been highlighted that 9 out of 10 Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic voluntary sector organisations face closure. (Ubele Initiaitve, April 2020).
I have spent a lifetime telling untold stories, unspoken stories, giving voice to those of us who have been muted and silenced, in the theatre company that I run.”
Mandala Theatre’s current production ‘Pipeline’ written by Asian writer Avaes Mohammed with the input of young people who have lived experience of exclusion from school, been groomed into gangs and who end up in the pipeline to prison has been postponed due to the current situation. But Mandala Theatre Company is falling through the net. One of the grass roots organisations that is not receiving the funding it needs to survive, isn’t receiving the support it needs to ensure it can keep telling the stories of those who do not have a voice.
CharitySoWhite state when emphasising the essential role of BAME led organisations, “Their work is so impactful and vital because they are led by individuals who have the culturally specific knowledge, lived experience, connections and trust of the communities they work with.”
Yasmin Sidhwa explains; “Covid-19, this global pandemic, should make us all want a more just, more human, more compassionate world. It is too easy to leave us out of the big picture as has always been the case throughout history. We cannot go back to ‘normal’, there must be a new ‘normal’ – one where our voices are heard.”
Donations can be made to Mandala Theatre here: http://www.mandalatheatre.co.uk/get-involved/make-a-donation/