Babylon: JourneyS of Refugees

BABYLON is presented in partnership with The Suffolk University Theatre Department and the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University.

Tickets

Reserved Center : $50/$40 Puppet Showplace Members
General Admission: $25 / $20 members
Student / Teen (w/ ID): $15
Suffolk Community w/ ID: $10

BABYLON: an ancient city in what is now Iraq. Its ruins lie 59 miles southwest of Baghdad. This fallen mythic civilization becomes, for us, a metaphor for the destruction and destabilization that is leading much of the world into a refugee crisis of mythic proportion.

SANDGLASS THEATER’s newest touring production is a response to this crisis. Working with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, Sandglass Theater looked at the relationship of refugees to their homelands, lost and new. Sandglass artists interviewed resettled refugees in order to gain first hand insight into their plight, trauma, and the challenges of resettlement. This is a vital conversation in all communities, whether they are directly impacted by newly resettled refugees or not.

Using puppets and moving panoramic scrolls, Sandglass tells the refugees’ stories in original four-part choral songs. The artists work with simple means, not much more than someone could carry with them as they flee. In Babylon, the blending of actual testimony with unreal figures gives audiences a startlingly new perspective into how we can respond to the enormity of this crisis.

FREE Community Workshop

Post Show Community Conversations

THURSDAY JANUARY 24 - Immigrant and Refugee Stories in Boston
Andrea Spake, Community Relations Manager, International Institute of New England (IINE)
Julio del Olmo, Attorney, Del Olmo Law
Damaris Velasquez and Patricia Sobalvarro, Co-founders, Agencia Alpha

FRIDAY JANUARY 25 - Ford Hall Forum Public Discussion Series
Iani del Rosario Moreno - Moderator and Professor, Suffolk University Department of World Languages & Cultural Studies
Ragini Shah - Clinical Law Professor, Founder and Director of the Suffolk University Law School Immigration Clinic
The Reverend Amy L Fisher - Suffolk University Chaplain, Director, Interfaith Center and Senior Lecturer, Religious Studies.  Contributing author - Displaced Persons: Theological Reflection On Immigration, Refugees, And Marginalization.

SATURDAY JANUARY 26 - Refugee Health in Boston
Patricia “Trish” Guglietta - Pediatrician, Pediatric Refugee Program, MGH Chelsea
Carolina Abuelo - Attending Physician, MGH Boston, and Volunteer, The Florence Project
James Miller - Medical Resident, MGH Asylum Clinic

Study Guide

Discover readings, resources, and information about the show-creation process:
Sandglass Theater Study Guide for Babylon: Journeys of Refugees

About the Performers

Sandglass Theater is an internationally known theater company specializing in combining puppets with music, actors and visual imagery. Since 1982, the company’s productions have toured 24 countries, performing in theaters, festivals and cultural institutions and winning numerous international prizes.

Sandglass Theater produces works for both adult audiences and young audiences—two repertoires that tour separately and together. Sandglass also performs and teaches in its own 60-seat renovated barn theater in Putney, Vermont. Sandglass Theater is available for workshops and residencies and teaches a 2-week intensive training program each summer. Learn more at sandglasstheater.org

The Ensemble: Shoshana Bass, Keila K. Ching, Kalob Martinez, Raphael Sacks, Alan White

Partners and Sponsors

This presentation is funded in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.