Quaker play for UN anti-poverty day
‘This is our way of honouring the existence of these paupers and paralleling that with the lives of modern-day poverty-stricken people in London now.'
Two Quaker theatre practitioners have collaborated with anti-poverty campaigners on a play, to mark the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Lynn and Dave Morris of the human rights theatre company Journeymen have collaborated with London Challenge Poverty Week to produce We Make Our Mark: Dramatic tales of poverty from 1850s London to today.
Quaker Lynn Morris told the Friend that the show has been commissioned by the organisation ATD Fourth World to help give their anti-poverty activists a voice and a platform. ‘The performance by the activists themselves, all of whom have “lived experience” of poverty, aims to take the audience back into the 1850s London of the Great Stink, the cholera epidemic and the transportation of London’s dead by the Necropolis Railway to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. The paupers, of course, travelled third class in their coffins on their way to mass unmarked graves.’
Lynn Morris added: ‘This is our way of honouring the existence of these paupers and paralleling that with the lives of modern-day poverty-stricken people in London now. The first part of the show will be activists telling the story of the 1850s, and the second half will be historical and contemporary readings about poverty from people as diverse as Jack Monroe to Marcus Rashford, as well as some unpleasant stuff from rightwing commentators. We hope it will be raw and full of integrity.’
The event will be performed on 20 October at Cherry Garden Hall in Bermondsey, London, followed by a special screening of a video created by the group Poverty2Solutions called Through the Eyes and Values of Lived Experiences: Listen up to level up. The performance will feature professional musician Nicola ‘Nico’ Rivosecchi.
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was on 17 October.
Comments
It’s a pity that I only opened this at 19:20 on 20th October - too late to either give more publicity or attend myself
By BruceJJCadbury on 20th October 2022 - 19:25
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