Click on the images below to explore a sample of different projects I have worked on, either as a director, performer, campaigner or facilitator.
Joy Unspeakable (Work-in-Progress)
Director/Writer, Joy Unspeakable is is a new piece of verbatim theatre for women, girls and their allies. It explores eating disorders – why they are all about food, and nothing to do with food. Joy Unspeakable began life in June 2016 as a Works-in-Progress piece at the Octagon Theatre Bolton’s REVEAL Season (see pics below). At…
The Present
Director, The Present, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, 2019 The Present, written by Nicola Schofield, was an entertaining and interactive original performance, that toured to local residential homes, day centres and community venues as part of the Octagon’s on-going aim of making theatre more accessible to patrons. Funded by Ambition for Ageing, members of ArtBeat – the…
After Birth
Director, After Birth, CO:Lab Festival, The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 2018 How do mothers voice they’re struggling during a time society expects to be the best? After Birth is a multi-media installation and performance putting the hidden issue of maternal mental health in public. It began as a collaboration between writer Nicola Schofield, visual artist…
A Christmas Carol
Assistant Director, A Christmas Carol , The Octagon Theatre Bolton, 2017 Original story by Charles Dickens, adapted for the stage by Neil Duffield, Director Ben Occhipinti Charles Dickens’ cherished festive tale was brought to life afresh for Bolton audiences in this enchanting stage adaptation full of joy, song, and magic! Featuring a host of classic Christmas…
Parliament Square
Assistant Director, Parliament Square, Royal Exchange Manchester and Bush Theatre co-production, 2017 Written by James Fritz, Director Jude Christian Kat gets up one morning, leaves her family behind, and travels to London to carry out an act that will change her life and, she hopes, everyone else’s. But what are the real consequences? James Fritz’s…
Come Closer: Memories of Partition
Director, Come Closer: Memories of Partition, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 2017 Seven decades on, the memories of the partition of India and Pakistan are still strong. Memories of Partition brought the voices of silent experiences, stories and hidden histories of Manchester’s South Asian communities to the stage in 10 monologues from some of the North’s…
REACT: Verbatim R and D
Director / Collaborator, REACT: Verbatim R & D, Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, 2017 REACT is paid opportunity for groups of theatre-makers from the Open Exchange network to spend five days at the theatre, creating work in reaction to a provocation. The emphasis is on process rather than outcome and participants are encouraged to treat the…
Faraway, So Close
Director / Writer, Faraway, So Close is a compelling, contemporary theatre piece, exploring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Britain’s legacy in the region and what this might mean for British citizens today. At times hard-hitting, at times humorous and playful, Faraway, So Close weaves together sound, film and symbol with a physical-theatre storytelling style that immerses audiences in…
Active Citizens
Facilitator, Theatre and Conflict Transformation workshop at Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland as part of the British Council’s Active Citizens project, run by Together 4 Peace, Leeds. Active Citizens is a British Council initiative, for which T4P is a local partner. The project connects and supports organisations and adults (especially young adults) involved in local initiatives…
Anti-Slavery Day
Performer, Point Zero Street-Theatre action in collaboration with OXCAT (Oxfordshire Community Against Trafficking) for Anti-Slavery Day 18th October, Oxford, 2013. Around twenty performers, blindfolded to highlight the campaign slogan Open Your Eyes, performed a choreography devised around the theme of human trafficking in one of Oxford’s main shopping precincts, over a busy two hour period. The…
Recycle
Ensemble cast member, Recycle: Disposable Lives, a Point Zero Physical Theatre production to raise awareness of homelessness in Oxford. Performed at The Old Fire Station Theatre Oxford, 15th and 16th March 2013. Recycle: Disposable Lives explores questions of isolation, value, human fragility and belief through the tragically beautiful life stories of three different characters: a world-weary,…
Everything Belongs
Director, 20 minute physical-theatre production exploring cultural identity, race and gender. Performed at The Kings Centre, Oxford, 6 July, 2012. Everything Belongs was devised over a ten week period and was performed by local dance and physical-theatre artists Paulette Mae and Anja Meinhardt. Taking a poem that explores my own struggle for identity as a…
If You Look Away From Me
Ensemble cast member, If You Look Away From Me, a physical-theatre production exploring voice, identity, family and social roles, relationships and expectations, directed by Moya Hughes. Performed at The Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford, 2012.
Performance for Peace
Facilitator, six day training course in Forum Theatre and conflict transformation. Developed and delivered in partnership with St. Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, with a guest session by Adrian Jackson of Cardboard Citizens. This six week course was aimed at people working to facilitate community cohesion (youth workers, church workers, community organisers, activists, applied…
Drone Wars
Campaigner, coordinated anti-drones campaign calling for transparency and public scrutiny of UK Government use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), key actions included anti-drones protest action at Disarm DSEi 2011 in partnership with SPEAK. Campaign developed while employed by Fellowship of Reconciliation, England. For more information on this important and continuing campaign, please see the…
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Campaigner, delegation to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, met with both Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights groups in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, May 2009. For more information about peace activism with Christian Peacemaker Teams, please visit http://www.cpt.org.
Amy Hailwood 