School pupils and members of the public in Leeds will have an opportunity next week to enjoy Banner Theatre’s mythbusting asylum show “They get free mobiles…..don’t they?” show is a live multimedia documentary which sets out to bust some of the myths about asylum seekers and refugees.
The show, which is part of the Leeds Together for Peace Festival features 2 performers from refugee backgrounds, including Gaylan Nazhad, a former TV presenter from Kurdistan. Gaylan presented a news program for young people in the Kurdish controlled region of Iraq on PUKTV (now known as Kurdsat TV). He resigned from his job presenting on PUKTV after three years because he was unhappy with the role it was playing in fuelling the civil war between the rival Kurdish factions the PUK (the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party). Gaylan plays numerous roles in the show, and provides many of the shows comic moments. Gaylan is available for interviews.
Dave Rogers, artistic director of Banner Theatre, who also performs in the show said, “ We want to tell human stories of people in the wrong place at the wrong time and cut through the myth, lies and prejudice surrounding the search for sanctuary in England’s green but sometimes not so pleasant land. But we’ll also show how our lives here in the UK are integrally connected to those of refugees from impoverished third world countries. Big business profits from the exploitation of children and slave labourers, particularly in the mining and production of tantalum- a key element in our mobile phones.”
The show is the first of two events featuring asylum in the Together for Peace Festival. The second event, the Asylum Solidarity Day will be hosted at Leeds Church Institute Saturday 24 November 11am-4pm
Richard Byrne, the Refugee Council’s representative at the Leeds Asylum Campaign Alliance said, “In our area there are many people doing great work to help asylum seekers and refugees. Our faith community, our asylum support groups, our local campaign groups, students and the refugee communities themselves all play a vital role. The Asylum Solidarity day is an opportunity for all those people and many others to come together to plan campaigns to make Leeds, and the rest of the UK a place where asylum seekers and refugees can live with dignity, safety and respect.”
More information
1. This event is part of the Together for Peace Festival, a Leeds-wide festival taking place from 15-25 November 2007.
It will be performed at South Leeds High (Wednesday 21st November, morning) and at David Young Academy (Thursday 22nd November, morning) to large audiences of school pupils and then in a public performance Thursday evening, 7pm at the David Young Academy.
2. Banner Theatre was formed in 1974 by a group of performers, musicians and broadcasters, including former BBC documentary producer Charles Parker, who, with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, created the pioneering and award-winning series of radio ballads for the BBC in the 1960s.
“They get free mobiles . . . don’t they?” is a development of the Strangers in Paradise Circus production touring in the Midlands during March and April, part funded by the European Social Fund through the Community Initiative EQUAL.
