At the Pitt Rivers Museum event Migration: the Art of Movement, organised by the Oxford Migration Studies Society on the 17th of June 2016, CONTAINED tested snippets from their new theatre performance on decisions and journeys.
The famous anthropological museum with its cases of items from all over the world was the venue for an evening full of talks, music and performance on migration. But almost unnoticed, the audience itself became part of a performance. The team of CONTAINED immersed the audience in images, movements and sounds that represented experiences around the theme of decisions and journeys. It let people experience different reasons to move, how much control do you have in making a decision, and the obstacles, risks and opportunities you can face.
The audience was not always sure about what they had seen. While some were a bit confused, others were enthusiastic about how movement and participatory theatre can give an experience on migration. The CONTAINED team went home with a lot of food for thought to work on their performance!
Decisions and Journeys is part of the CONTAINED trilogy of theatrical performances that connect experience, research, and creative learning to create dialogues and more understanding about migration. The performance was based on stories of migrants, told to dr. Marieke van Houte in her research on migration in conflict countries. You can read these stories here. The team of the try out performance at the Pitt Rivers Museum consisted of: Creative Director Anja Meinhardt – Research Director Marieke van Houte – Performers Remco Heijmans – Steve Hay – Sparrow – Sarah Jane Clarke – Daniella Cromwell – Frederike Otto – Anja Meinhardt – Marieke van Houte – Film Ben Johnston – Dramaturgy Joakim Daun.