From 17 – 24 June, Shakespeare’s Globe will be marking Refugee Week with a programme of one-off performances, discussions and storytelling sessions. Throughout the week, Shakespeare’s response to refuge and refugees will be explored.
The series will open on Sunday 17 June with Fingerprints – a hands-on woodcut printing workshop led by Syrian artist Dima Karout. Also on Sunday, a Read Not Dead script-in-hand performance of Sir Thomas More will take to the stage in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, bringing to life the plight of refugees and the May Day Riots of 1517.
On Wednesday 20 June there will be a two-part dance performance with Fragments Of A Journey, an informal showing of work performed by refugees. Fragments Of A Journey with include Hawiyya dance company’s Safar: Journey and Mo’min Swaitat’s Fragments.
The festival continues with the premiere of Nanjing, a piece about identity, dispossession, and the consequences of war.
On Friday 22 June, Blanche McIntyre’s production of The Winter’s Tale opens in The Globe. It explores refuge, rage and forgiveness, and will open during Refugee Week and run until Sunday 14 October.
Panel discussion Whither Would You Go will take place on Saturday 23 June. And the festival closes on Sunday 24 June with two events for families. Renowned children’s author Nicola Davies will present her new picture book The Day War Came and there will be a special Refugee Week storytelling session of Twelfth Night.
Refugee Week is the UK’s largest festival celebrating the contribution of refugees. For two decades, the festival has brought together people of all backgrounds to mark the resilience of refugees and the welcome they receive from British communities.
To find out more and buy tickets to Refugee Week, visit the Shakespeare’s Globe website.