Background
The idea for this new production came from Claire Thew, Migration and Refugee Manager at The Gateshead Housing Company and Jeanne Pratt, then Service Manager at Education Gateshead. Councillor McNestry, the portfolio holder for Migration at Gateshead Council, was also consulted and contributed at the commissioning stage.
Two of the aims of the Gateshead Councils Thrive agenda are to Support Communities to support themselves, and each other, and tackling inequality so people have a fair chance in life.
Claire says “We wanted an educational tool that would support children to think more widely about the experiences of children who have either come into Gateshead through the asylum process or been resettled with their family as part of the Home Offices’ resettlement programme. Children can be a great support to each other, by promoting understanding of lived experience we hoped that the play would enable the children to think about loss and hope and be able to relate and support each other.“
The play is aimed at supporting the personal, social development aspects of the school curriculum and would also sit within British Values – in particular tolerance and mutual respect for others.
The Development of the production
Following on from extensive research carried out by the theatre company for another recent play about Refugee journeys (for older audiences), for The Birds Keep Singing we again interviewed a number of refugee families, in the Gateshead area this time, with a specific focus of speaking to children (safely) about their memories, experiences and their hopes for the future. These conversations and further research of first hand accounts of refugees from across the globe, came together to inform the shape of the story and the lessons it shares with audiences
And what is that…?
…That children can be strong, they can be resilient and they can be brave in the face of the most challenging situations. But for these children to then go on to grow into healthy adults we must listen to their stories, acknowledge what they have experienced and give them a base to re-build their lives.
thebirdskeepsinging 