Refugee Journey: Community Workshop
FREE Interactive Community Workshop with Sandglass Theater (Vermont)
January 23 (Wed) | 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Space is limited - register today!
Suffolk University Modern Theatre
525 Washington Street, Boston MA 02111
What does it take to get someone to safety?
Join Sandglass Theater artists for an interactive workshop and discussion designed to deeply engage audiences in the real-life stories and global political circumstances that inspired BABYLON: JOURNEYS OF REFUGEES.
Using an interactive board game format, cast members take participants through life in a refugee camp and the process of being granted refugee status. Sandglass performers play the roles of border guards, smugglers, medical officers, and immigration interviewers who directly confront community participants in order to personalize the refugee experience in all its danger, unfairness, and bureaucracy. Participants will experience the hopes, fears, discrimination, and occasional luck of people fleeing war and violence. Following the simulation, participants will engage in community dialogue about their experience. This is a fantastic workshop for students, educators, activists, artists, information designers, and anyone looking to learn and cultivate empathy for the global refugee community.
This workshop was developed in partnership with the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) Vermont. It facilitates community investment in new residents while enhancing dialogue across boundaries of class, race, and politics. It also sheds light on the threats, stereotypes, and marginalization faced by refugees. The simulation also includes stories of new residents, including established residents who might distrust change, and community members who have experienced marginalization.
Learn more and purchase tickets to Babylon: www.puppetshowplace.org/babylon
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.
