Home From Home

HOME FROM HOME

Telling the real life stories of refugees in south London.

Storytelling Theatre Music Dance Poetry Multi-media

Lewisham was recently named the first Borough of Sanctuary, its aim to make Lewisham a safe place for all to live and as part of Refugee Week (17-23 June), Sydenham-based theatre company Spontaneous Productions will be staging a very special event telling the true stories of those who have made their home here and in SE London.

Writers from our ScriptHub workshops have collaborated with refugees, migrants and asylum seekers to create original spoken word pieces – providing a voice for those not previously heard, and celebrating our common humanity through monologue, poetry, music, dance and multi-media.

Hosted by Iranian singer Mahshid Torkan, expect a powerful, moving and entertaining array of stories – many uplifting, but all touching on the difficulties found in leaving one home to make – another here. We are delighted to include the fantastic Flotsam Sessions orchestra in the event programme – Flotsam Sessions is a London-based project creating exciting musical spaces where people from diverse backgrounds and experiences come together to share, express, learn and perform music.

UPSTAIRS AT THE SYDENHAM CENTRE, 44a Sydenham Rd, London SE26 5QX

Saturday 22 June 2024, 7.30-9.30pm

FUNDRAISER FOR SPONTANEOUS PRODUCTIONS*

*A DONATION WILL BE MADE TO LEWISHAM FOODBANK

Featuring musicians from the Flotsam Sessions global orchestra,

performing live throughout the performance

Please note this a fundraising event to help keep Spontaneous Productions afloat! Our scaled ticket price enables you to donate as much or as little as you can afford. Pay in advance using the price scale below, or ‘pay what you can’ on the door, from 6.45pm.

Tickets: £15 standard price, £25 large donation, £20 pay a little more, £10 pay a little less, £5 small donation

Online booking in advance recommended: https://spontaneousproductions.co.uk/homefromhome

Besides the participants themselves – some of whom will be sharing their own stories – professional actors and spoken word artists/poets will be bring these tales to vivid life, reminding us of our shared values, in an increasingly fragile world.

What audiences said about our Windrush 75 event Yard Away Home in 2023:

“It was magical and inspiring. What a generation of amazing people.”

“What a production, and brilliant spontaneous performances. It was a unique evening and memorable for its joyfulness”

“It was so beautiful and moving”

Audience comments about other events:

“Spontaneous Productions is the National Theatre of SE26. Always surprising, always impressive, always entertaining.’ Matthew Sweet, author and broadcaster

“Hugely entertaining” (South London Press, review of The Three Musketeers)

“I can’t recommend going to see this enough, it’s a real little gem in a local venue, well worth going to see.” (Audience comment about Three Men in a Boat)

“One of the best shows about knife crime and gang culture I’ve ever seen, absolutely amazing” (Audience review of SAFE, co-production by SP & JRHYS)

Photos of Yard Away Home, marking Windrush 75 in June 2023, by Mark Drinkwater

Writers Juliet Chalk, Dan Harwood, Michael-James Thorne, Ida Tidy, Jane Walker, Director & producer Jonathan Kaufman, associate producer Jackie Poulett, event co-coordinator Priscilla Okoye, thanks to Maya of Flotsam Sessions, Sheila Hayman & Lucy Katz of Freedom from Torture, The Migration Museum, Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network, Lianne Harvey of Bromley Homeless Unit