Member Article

Darlington and South Africa to embrace the true spirit of cultural exchange through theatre

Darlington-based theatre company, ODDMANOUT, has formed an international collaboration with The Market Theatre laboratory, Johannesburg, for a new production, examining womanhood in 2017.

A female led project, Encountering the Other, will combine an exciting fusion of live and digital performance and is set to challenge perception, demand empowerment and unite cultures through conversation and creation.

Through a series of workshops and rehearsals, in both the UK and South Africa, participants in the project will explore the themes and issues surrounding the lives of young women today, culminating with two performances at the Ramolao Makhene Theatre, South Africa, on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th October 2017 at 7:30pm and a further one-off performance at the newly restored, Darlington Hippodrome on Monday 27th November, at 7.30pm.

Throughout the week of the Darlington showcase, the full cast, who are flying in from South Africa for the occasion, will be holding exciting workshops for budding North East actors in Darlington.

Priding itself on creating work with a strong focus on social change and theatre with story-telling at its heart, ODDMANOUT still maintains its roots firmly in Darlington, after being established in 2013, by North East theatre makers, Katy Weir and Scott Young.

Wanting to share its skills, knowledge and practises, ODDMANOUT will also be holding creative workshops in Darlington in the later coming months to help shape the direction and approach of future work, through regular engagement with local communities.

Commenting on the new production, Katy, who has previously travelled to South Africa, with the Swallows Foundation UK said: ‘We’re very excited about the collaboration and the global profile of this project.

“We aim to achieve mixed gender, class, and race participation, providing a more inclusive outcome in a way that transcends more than just cultural divides, but also, divides of gender, class and sexuality.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harvey and Hugo .