RED Ladder Theatre Company’s powerful and moving new musical, Sanctuary, asks “What kind of society do we want to live in?”
Presented in collaboration with the Theatre Royal, Wakefield, and CAPA College, Wakefield, composer-lyricist Boff Whalley and award-winning playwright Sarah Woods’ topical political drama is directed by artistic director Cheryl Martin in her first production since taking over the Leeds company.
Sanctuary opened at the Wakefield theatre on September before setting off on an eight-week tour of theatres, community venues and churches that visits Selby Abbey tonight; Hull Truck Theatre tomorrow and the Welsey Centre, Harrogate, on Saturday.
Red Ladder’s musical premiere charts one man’s plea for help and refuge at a time when not all strangers are welcomed. When young Iranian Alland (Aein Nasseri) begs to be given sanctuary at a church in northern England, sparking a community to react in all the ways each member believes to be right, young church worker Molly (Ingrid Bolton-Gabrielsen) joins forces with vicar Fiona (York actress Emily Chattle) to resist both the angry vigilantes and the hard-hearted authorities beyond the church walls to try to protect him.
Holding a special community service where voices on all sides sing their songs of redemption and condemnation, Fiona asks the question to everyone present: “Do we give Alland over to the State or live up to our well-versed ideals of compassion?”
The creative team has worked closely with people hoping to call the UK home, shaping Alland’s story. Writers Whalley and Woods spent the past six years collaborating on projects for Welsh National Opera, in partnership with the Oasis Centre for refugees and asylum seekers, to co-create original operas for a more diverse audience. Director Martin spent eight years directing women refugees and asylum seekers in shows for Manchester’s Community Arts Northwest.
Earlier this year, Leeds-based Mafwa Theatre ran sessions with the team and CAPA College students, who then created their own workshops for secondary school pupils, supported by asylum seekers, that have helped shape the production.
This unique collaboration between Red Ladder, Theatre Royal Wakefield and CAPA College, featuring a chorus of performing arts students, mixes hard-hitting ideas with memorable melodic tunes and harmonies.
Martin says: “Sanctuary comes at a critical moment in the conversation about immigration, refugees and asylum seekers. I hope this musical helps open up this conversation because it’s one that goes to the heart of who we are and the kind of society we want to live in.”
Co-creator Woods says: “Boff and I have been collaborating for a number of years, including co-creating work with people seeking refuge and asylum, and this is a story that we both feel needed to be told.
“There is a lot of hostility in the media when it comes to immigration, and we want to counter this narrative by offering audiences different viewpoints. I believe the stories we tell can really affect change in the world.
“A lot of people who come to the UK seeking asylum are here because they’ve stood up against oppression, doing things that many of us might not have the strength to do. We can learn a lot from them and the stories they share with us.”
Co-writer Whalley says: “Working with refugees and asylum seekers over the past handful of years has been an education. A steep learning curve in understanding how both Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’ and the non-stop onslaught of the trash media has impacted Britain.
“We’re a nation in turmoil over immigration. A country at war with itself over small boats – whilst at the heart of it all are desperate people fleeing war and imprisonment, searching for hope and a place to call home.
“And that’s why Sanctuary is important right now. Which all sounds a bit grim, doesn’t it? And grim isn’t a great starting point for good musical theatre! So the idea is to make this big subject entertaining as well as poignant and educational.”
Whalley continues: “It’s my job with the music to use melody and harmony to draw people in, to create shared moments, to give the audience a helping hand into this story of a young asylum-seeker looking for sanctuary.
“Music is such a powerful tool, and it can cross divides, it can patch up differences between people. Which is what Sanctuary will hope to do.”
Sanctuary welcomes everyone in, challenging audiences to consider: “Do we want safety and freedom for only ourselves, or for us all?” “Come on in – the service is about to begin,” reads the invitation.
Did you know?
SANCTUARY is supported by the Mayor of West Yorkshire’s Safer Communities Fund.
Did you know too?
ALL performances will be captioned via The Difference Engine, a tool that enables deaf and hard-of-hearing people to read performance captions on their phone.
Red Ladder Theatre in Sanctuary, Selby Abbey, October 7, 7.30pm; Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, October 8, 7.30pm; Wesley Centre, Harrogate, October 12, 7.30pm. Box office: Selby, 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk; Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk. Age guidance: 13 upwards.