SUPPLIANTS OF SYRIA

This spring, Border Crossings returns with SUPPLIANTS OF SYRIA. Tickets on sale now. 

What does it mean to seek asylum, to flee war and persecution, to claim your place in a new land? 

Inspired by Aeschylus’s SUPPLIANTS and rooted in the Greek idea of theatre as democracy, this new multimedia performance explores these questions through the lives and voices of refugee women today. 

In 2023 Border Crossings ran a series of theatre workshops in Adana, Turkey, with Syrian refugee women from the Meryem Kadın Kooperatifi—an initiative supporting employment and empowerment through agricultural and work projects. In collaboration with Çukurova University’s Film Department, the workshops generated powerful scenes and testimonies that feature in the performance. 

Through filmed testimonies, devised scenes and classical text, the work foregrounds voices that are rarely heard, challenging prevailing ideas about political and cultural borders in Britain and Europe.

Each performance includes a live debate, inviting audiences to reflect together on what they have seen and heard.

All performances will be preceded by a short talk from a refugee or NGO worker. An exhibition of visual art by artists from refugee backgrounds will frame the performance, with music and dance from local refugee artists after each show.

Read more about the premiere of SUPPLIANTS OF SYRIA on StageLync.

The development phases of SUPPLIANTS OF SYRIA was supported by the British Council’s Creative Collaborations Grant Programme, the Anna Lindh Foundation and Arts Council England. The premiere production is supported by Arts Council England. Arriving, Becoming, Belonging outreach project is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund. 

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