Legal Aliens Launch THINGS I AM NOT Podcast Series Featuring Stories By Migrant Women Artists

THINGS I AM NOT is a series of 10 original 10 minutes-long audio stories, written and performed by 10 female artists who have migrated to the United Kingdom. Recognising the stereotypes often projected on migrant women, ranging from 'exotic seductress' to 'benefit scrounger', LegalAliens Theatre asked 10 female artists to respond to the theme THINGS I AM NOT, starting from a first-person point of view, but free to combine personal experience with fiction, drama, and comedy, in a style that truly represents them.

By turns heartfelt, searching or laugh-out-loud funny, the monologues offer an unfiltered reflection on the daily experience of life at the intersection of womanhood and migration. With listeners invited to submit their own responses on the project's website, THINGS I AM NOT will premiere on International Women's Day on Monday 8th March and will be available from www.thingsiamnot.com.

Collaborating for the first time with LegalAliens during the first Covid-19 lockdown, Greek actor and podcaster Emmanuela Lia used this period as a chance to reflect on the microaggressions and assumptions often projected on migrant women. Based on that idea, LegalAliens commissioned another 8 women to offer their own reflections on the theme. Directed by LegalAliens associate Artistic Director Becka McFadden, the 10 audio stories are written and performed by Yasmeen Ghrawi, Lanna Joffrey, Gaël Le Cornec, Inyoung Lee, Emmanuela Lia, Becka McFadden, Lara Parmiani, Sabrina Richmond, Miray Sidhom, and Mai Weisz. Each story will be accompanied by original digital artwork by French artist Laura Rouzet.

Reflecting LegalAliens' commitment to community engagement, THINGS I AM NOT has been designed to provoke and encourage audience response. Each week, listeners will be invited to submit their own responses to an open call in the medium of their choice (text, poetry, video, audio, images, drawings, etc.). These will be collated on the website by LegalAliens collaborators Daiva Dominyka and Catharina Conte, who bring their visual art and theatre-making skills to the web design and social media curation of the project. Listener's submissions will progressively grow into a digital gallery as dialogue between artists and listeners develops across - and beyond - the roll out of the ten episodes. THINGS I AM NOT is LegalAliens' first foray into audio story-telling, benefiting from Lara Parmiani's experience as an award-winning voiceover artist.

THINGS I AM NOT Director Becka McFadden said: 'While podcasting is a New Medium for us, we've found ways to adapt our theatre-making practice to an audio and digital space. Listeners will hear this in the monologues themselves - which share our stage productions' fondness for incorporating multiple languages. Our productions are intensely visual and that's something we've also found ways to carry over to this project.'

THINGS I AM NOT's dedicated website is now live featuring Episode 0, an introduction to the project by Lara Parmiani, Becka McFadden and Emmanuela Lia. The first audio story will launch on Monday 8 March to coincide with International Women's Day and the series will continue for a further nine weeks, with a new episode released each Monday. The podcast will be available on all major platforms, as well as on the website.

THINGS I AM NOT is funded by Arts Council England and supported by New Diorama and Migrant Dramaturgies Network. With thanks to Counterpoint Arts, The Engine Room Tottenham, and The Hope Project. It is the third project in LegalAliens' Migrations series to be funded by Arts Council England.

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