Theatre Deli Announce Beyond Borders Festival

Theatre Deli announce festival celebrating the courage & creativity of refugees in the UK.

Following the success of previous Refugee Week festivals, Theatre Deli are excited to announce the return of the Beyond Borders Festival: an arts festival celebrating the contribution, courage and creativity of refugees in the UK, which is returning for its third year.

The week long festival will include live music, comedy, open rehearsals, theatre and dance performances and new writing, and will take place at Theatre Deli's The Old Library, Camberwell. All funds raised from the festival will be donated to Help Refugees, Southwark Refugee Response, Creating Ground, and Theatre Deli's Artist Residency scheme, which supports emerging theatre companies who are creating work with and about refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

Following their sold-out comedy nights at the Royal Albert Hall and the Dubai Opera House, Arabs Are Not Funny! have collaborated with Theatre Deli to present a special Beyond Borders show, featuring Zahra Barri (BBC Radio 4, BBC Asian Network), Mo Magaleo and Mustafa Fecto.

Music Without Borders is back after a sold out night in February and features Palestinian hiphop duo EbsilJaz, Shamma SmokedPoets - a kashmiri street poet, born and raised in East London, and Royal Academy of Music trained Esbe, praised for her "bold and dramatic arrangements (with) music as eclectic as her roots" (Nigel Williamson, The Times).

Hot Chip's tour DJ, Pete Fowler will headline Hands Up, a party in aid of Help Refugees - a charity which provide essential support to vulnerable refugees.

Theatre Deli's popular Scratch Nights which present brand new work from Alex Etchart (co-creator of the Sex Workers' Opera - "One of the most important pieces of theatre you'll see this year" - The Independent), Rayo Tropical who'll be exploring the 2018 Brazil elections in a new immersive theatre experience, and Genevieve Lou, a hip hop choreographer originally from Montreal. New writing company Sharp Scratches brings stories of refuge in Finding Home. Alleyway Radical Theatre, a collective of artists from Palestine, Hackney, Kashmir, Egypt, Spain, Japan and beyond invite members of the public to join their rehearsal room for scene sharings, discussion and music.

Producer & Programmer Emma Blackman said: 'Over the past three years we have supported numerous projects created by and with refugee artists. Welcoming new artists to the building and having the chance to learn new rhythms, languages and stories, makes Beyond Borders Festival an opportunity to build understanding among artists and audiences. We're delighted to collaborate again with Southwark Refugee Response and Creating Ground to support the important work they do all year round'

The full line up of artists and all details & tickets can be found by visiting Theatre Deli's website at theatredeli.co.uk.

To post a comment, you must register and login.