Join us at the Performance Lab for a special showing of Far Gone, a solo performance by writer and actor John Rwothomack that explores complex issues of war, religion and power through the story of a Ugandan child soldier. Far Gone also looks into how the West manipulates specific narratives of ‘Africa’, often using “legitimate” aid organisations like ‘Invisible Children,’ in a way that directly impacts people of African heritage in the UK and beyond.
Inspired by the writer’s real-life experience of nearly being kidnapped by the guerrilla rebel group The Lords Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony in Uganda, it draws on the contrast between his experiences as a child in Uganda and the experience of being a young black man in the UK, and how perceptions of ‘Africa’ effects his own narrative. It aims to address & widen the current representation on stage of Black British experience, particularly for BAME audiences.
It is developed in partnership with Theatre Deli and Sheffield Theatres Making Room. It has been collaboratively developed mainly with a Sheffield-based creative team. The team have used a research-based creative process that fuses movement and traditional African oral storytelling with the sounds and harmonies of Ugandan music and spiritual songs.
The performance will be followed by a talk with the show's writer and actor John Rwothomack and Hallam Acting and Performance Lecturer Dr Tom Payne.
Credits
Writer and Actor: John Rwothomack
Director: Moji Kareem
Dramaturge: Paul Sirett
Producer: Sam Holland and Joanna Jowett
Art Director: Smart Banda
Musical and Sound Director: Lee Affen
Lighting Designer: William Monks
Set & Costume Designer: Kevin Jenkins
Movement Director: Akeim Toussaint Buck
Stage & Tour Manager: Hannah Birtwistle - Crossland
Videographer & editor: Gomolemo Nyakale
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