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The Belgrade Theatre’s Community & Education Company is short-listed for a prestigious award
Published: Wednesday 16th June 10
The Belgrade Theatre’s Community & Education Company has been recognised for the valuable work it does with young people in the local community with a nomination for a prestigious Coventry Community Cohesion Award. The company has been nominated for its production The Mysteries - In Our Own Words, which brought together more than 150 young people from the theatre’s youth groups.
In collaboration with Coventry Partnership & Coventry Ethnic Minority Action Partnership, the Coventry Community Cohesion Awards celebrate activities which have contributed to building cohesive communities and recognise the significant contributions that they make towards cohesion in the city.
The Mysteries – In Our Own Words took place in July 2009 and was based on the medieval mystery plays which retold biblical stories for local audiences. This time however, the stories aimed to highlight the shared origins of Christianity and Islam through a series of drama, dance and film performances based on stories from both the Bible and the Qur’an, including some which appear in both books.
Justine Themen, the Belgrade’s Associate Director for Community and Education, said: “We wanted to give young people the opportunity to tell versions of well-known Bible stories that reflected their interests and experiences, rather than simply involve them in performing existing scripts. But of course, today’s society is very diverse and not everyone comes from a Christian tradition, so we decided to expand the project to include stories from the Muslim faith tradition in order to explore some of the current prejudices in contemporary Britain. Not many people realise quite how many Bible stories are also to be found in the Qur’an, and this was a big and exciting learning experience for all involved – one that emphasised commonalities rather than differences.”
Performances were staged in and around the Belgrade over the space of a week and included Chosen, a short film about the immaculate conception and Samson & Delilah, a short play written by Nick Walker from the Coventry based theatre company Talking Birds. Stories from the Qur’an included The Story of Mary and My Conflicted Self.
A panel of judges were nominated to process the applications for the Coventry Community Cohesion Award, which were whittled down to just 14 in five different categories. Short-listed projects for each of the categories are invited to attend the Community Cohesion Award ceremony with the Lord Mayor in July 2010, where the winners will be announced.
The Belgrade’s Community and Education Company are currently busy developing The Mysteries 2010, which will explore further the shared themes of the Bible and the Qur’an via three short films. The company is also in the last stages of developing this year’s In Our Own Words community festival, which will take place in the Belgrade’s B2 auditorium from 12 to 17 July 2010 and will celebrate the many different cultures and nationalities living in Coventry due to immigration.
Tickets for the 2010 In Our Own Words festival are available now from the box office on 024 7655 3055 or via the website by clicking here. Tickets are priced £6, with concessions available.
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