Vital Xposure and Dervish Productions today announce the UK tour of Quiet Rebels written and directed by Julie McNamara and Hassan Mahamdallie, in a co-production with Dervish Productions, Vital Xposure and Belgrade Theatre, in partnership with Soul City Arts and The Albany, Deptford.
Cast Includes Lottie Bell, Joe Conteh, Deni Francis and Fiona Whitelaw.
Quiet Rebels is based on the true life but forgotten stories of white working-class women who fell in love with men of the Windrush generation. They defied race and class prejudice and social stigma directed against them and their families. A drama-noir, with film, music and movement, set in a dystopian, authoritarian state of England where people who marry across race lines are considered traitors.
Former Artistic Director of Vital Xposure Julie McNamara and Hassan Mahamdallie’s extensive research gives voice to the stories of these unsung women, who faced hostility, battled discrimination and showed courage in the face of racism, class and gender prejudice and, who lay the foundations of the multi-cultural society we enjoy today. The question is posed “Were these women treated as if they committed a crime against society?”
Film, movement, and soundscapes with integrated creative access provide a powerful dramatisation of stories brought to life by Julie McNamara (The Knitting Circle) and Hassan Mahamdallie (The Crows Plucked Your Sinews). The Quiet Rebels creative team is experimenting with a new approach to integrating access into the design of the production, using a vibrant, percussive soundscape and rich visual narrative that incorporates captions, BSL and audio description to sew access into the fabric of the show.
The Creative Team of renowned, diverse practitioners who have developed this vital work is Gabriel Finn (Lighting Designer), Stephen Rudder (Filmmaker) Mohammed Ali (Digital Artist), Jeanefer Jean–Charles (Movement Director), Awate Abdalla (Composer / Sound Designer) and Troi Lee (Deaf Rave Founder).
Vital Xposure is a disabled-led touring theatre company that promotes hidden voices with extraordinary stories to tell. The company was founded by disabled artist and activist Julie McNamara, who led the company’s creative work and artistic vision for its first decade. In January 2021, the torch was passed on to actor, playwright and activist, Simon Startin.
Simon Startin, AD of Vital Xposure says:
“As our first show coming out of the pandemic, “Quiet Rebels” is immensely important to Vital Xposure, enabling disabled artists to lead the social justice conversation, and put our voices at the centre of our culture, where they belong”.
Vital Xposure, founded by writer and social justice activist Julie McNamara, promotes the full participation in the arts of disabled, Deaf and Neurodivergent individuals and people excluded from or under-represented in society and the arts and works towards a fairer world for marginalised artists to become creative leaders, with their work celebrated in the heart of our culture.
Previous work includes Voices from The Knitting Circle, The Butch Monologues, Let Me Stay and Hold the Hearse!
Dervish Productions create high-quality, political, multi-media work informed by authentic voices. Their work is crafted by artists who are committed to and understand the diversity agenda.
Founded and led by Hassan Mahamdallie, a specialist in diversity and equality in the arts, previous productions include The Crows Plucked Your Sinews; a one-woman play about Somalis in Britain and Britain in Somalia. Based on real events and featuring the epic lyrical tradition of Somalia the play brings forward a unique exploration of the violence of empire and the poetry of resistance and was nominated for the Alfred Fagon audience award 2016.
Hassan Mahamdallie says:
“I thought it would be exciting to work with Julie and Vital Xposure and to learn from her and the company about the politics and aesthetics of disability in theatre. But we didn’t have an idea –And then the Windrush ‘hostile environment’ scandal blew up – At the same time, I came across a biographical article from the renowned educationalist Professor Heidi Safia Mirza, whose father, like my own, was an Indian from Trinidad, and whose mother was a white European, like my mother.
I thought that her approach was a really interesting way of looking at the history of the Windrush generation – through the lens of these white working-class women who fell in love with these ‘dark strangers’ and in their own way altered history, and shaped the multicultural society we enjoy today. I told Julie that I thought I had something we could both write about”.
Julie McNamara says:
“For me, researching these stories and writing this play, was vital to my mental health. We have struggled for 5 years in the courts and finally heard justice in the Royal Courts at the close of 2020. I have been seething with rage at the devastating impact of successive governments’ casual disregard of the contribution of Black people and communities of colour in shaping the country we live in today. And so quiet rebels was born”
Listings
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry 10 – 17 Sept 2022
Nottingham Playhouse 19 – 21 Sept 2022
Rich Mix Cultural Foundation, London 30th Sept 2022
Capstone Theatre Liverpool, University Campus 5th Oct 2022
The Lowry 6 – 8 Oct 2022
Northern Stage 12 & 13 Oct 2022
Arts at the Old Fire Station, Oxford 14 & 15 Oct 2022
Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton 19th Oct 2022
Arts Centre – Edge Hill University Ormskirk, 20th Oct 2022
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield 28 Oct
The Albany, Deptford 09 – 11 Nov 2022
