Workshops

WORKING TOWARDS PEACE

Another innovative theatre project from New Theatre Works

We aim to bring together Tamils, Singhalese and Muslim young people  in an imaginative piece of interactive theatre that transcends local tensions and old enmities.

Kalkudah, North East Sri Lanka

When Maheswaran woke up on the dusty floor of the bunker with the taste of dried blood in his mouth, he was bruised and barely able to stagger to a nearby village. He thinks he was beaten unconscious but can't recall. His friends,13year-old twins Parameswar and Theivamalar, had disappeared. 'I don't know why they released me,' he said. 'My mother is terrified they will come back, so we have left our house and moved.' His home is now a shack of palm fronds and tin sheets. For two years he has lived  with hundreds of others, in a refugee camp. He’s very bored as he hardly ever goes to school.

The civil war between the Tamil Tigers (LTTE extremists) and the Sinhala-dominated  government has been going on for 25 years. In  north east Sri Lanka  hundreds of moderate Tamils have been made homeless in this complex war of demands and counter demands.

THEATRE CAN WORK WHERE POLITICS CAN’T

BY OVERCOMING CLASHES OF LANGUAGE , ETHNICITY AND RELIGION

 Ireland is the same size as Sri Lanka. People thought that the sectarian violence and cyclical conflict could never be broken in Ireland but the will of non-extremists, including wonderful work by Smashing Times Theatre Company – part of the EU programme for Peace and Reconciliation -  eventually won through.

Look at the profile of Daniel Barenboim’s young people’s orchestra composed of a mix of young Israelis and Palestinians with the its aim of building understanding through music.

Who we are, what we’ve done and our partners.

New Theatre Works was formed in 2000 by Ellie Parker as a resident professional company based at the new Courtyard Arts Centre, Herefordshire UK. Its mission is to provide innovative, original and entertaining work.

Ellie Parker, founder and director of NTW has a few firsts to her credit. She was one among  the first intake of  women at Magdalen College, Oxford. She was the first female director at Welsh National Opera, the first woman to perform professionally with Rowan Atkinson aka Mr Bean, the first to direct a student company at the Royal National Theatre owned Effy’s, the first Michelin-rated restaurant in Hereford and was the first mother of three to receive a PhD from Bristol University Theatre Department. 

Working with our British partner organisation, Funforlife, Ellie worked in Sri Lanka for several months after the Tsunami, creating theatre projects in the refugee camps. There she experienced first hand the benefits of stimulating, creative teamwork to young people in need. 

Rehearsing at the ‘Blue camp’ near Weligama after the Tsunami

In 2007 New Theatre Works devised a show  which examined our relationship with the environment. We called it What To Do?  After touring it to  Birmingham schools, the  British and Asian company of actor-teachers took it to Tsunami-affected schools in Sri Lanka.

2007. New Theatre Works in Hikkaduwa, creating What To Do?

As a result of touring this highly successful interactive arts project, the British Council has agreed to endorse our next project, Working Towards Peace. Once it reaches Sri Lanka, NTW will collaborate with two Sri Lankan youth organisations, The Centre for the Performing Arts and Sarvodaya, two Sri Lankan organisations dedicated to using the arts to promote social awareness among youth.

Making this project happen

Working Towards Peace. It is not safe for young Tamils to be out after dark for fear of either abduction by the Tigers or interrogation by government forces. They have few outlets to express their feelings or have fun. For the month of January 2009 we will devise and rehearse a piece of theatre, working with three different groups of 30  young people. Each group will comprise Tamils, Singhalese and Muslims and  the third group will be war-orphaned children. At the end of each week we will perform an informal show for parents and friends.

Reaching Out
There will be a company of six  - four actor/teachers, one administrator and one  technical manager. We will be based at the Sarvodaya centre in Trincomalee and the young people will be bussed in from outlying villages.There will be 90 young people participating. We anticipate a total audience figure of over 200.

THEATRE CAN WORK WHERE POLITICS CAN’T

BY OVERCOMING CLASHES OF LANGUAGE, ETHNICITY AND RELIGION

What we hope to achieve
Young people of different ethnic groups living in mutual isolation, ignorance and mistrust will discover the healing effects of creative activity.

Youth workers and teachers and young people will be inspired to continue the work once we have departed.

We keep in contact with the organisations and individuals whose lives have been touched.

How you can be part of the project
Our work in England is funded by the Arts Council England.

NTW needs to raise £8000

to fund the work in Sri Lanka

NTW is seeking donations from all those interested in improving the lives of young Sri Lankans who have suffered the ravages of ongoing civil war following the devastating effects of the 2005 tsunami. 

Donations can be made directly via paypal  to our British partner organisation, www.funforlife.org.uk

Registered Charity No 1121143.

Cheques can be made out to New Theatre Works and sent to

Sri Lanka Project, New Theatre Works,
The Courtyard Centre for the Arts,
Edgar Street,
Hereford
HR4 9JR

+441981 550245 mailto:ellie@newtheatreworks.co.uk

© New Theatre Works