Leeds Playhouse’s Alexander Ferris talks about telling refugee stories in Freedom Project

The desperate scenes at Kabul Airport, or people paddling in inflatables across the English Channel, act as a stark reminder we live in a very unstable world and Leeds Playhouse’s Freedom Project aims to highlight the experiences of unaccompanied minors coming to this country.

Leeds has a proud history of welcoming people fleeing oppression, and the Playhouse was the UK’s first Theatre of Sanctuary. The programme offers a range of creative spaces for refugees and people seeking asylum to express themselves and create networks of support as they find their feet in a new country.

There are now at least 20 similar projects across the country, and this challenging production is performed by Theatre of Sanctuary alumni Hossein Ahmadi and Mohammadreza Bazarbashi, who themselves came here as refugees

Our Yorkshire Editor Paul Clarke caught up with the Playhouse’s Alexander Ferris who is directing Freedom Project to find out more.

So, what is Freedom Project all about?

It tells the story of what it’s like for young, unaccompanied minors once they arrive in this country, and the things they have to go through and experience. All the challenges that are bound up in that, some of the positives and some of the different feelings they have when they get here.

How has Luke Barnes written this piece to make it authentic?

It’s all based on testimony from numerous young people seeking asylum or refugees. We have spoken to lots of different people in London and Leeds gathering their thoughts. We also have two young refugees performing it, who are adults now, but came into the UK as young people.

How did you cast Hossein and Mohammadreza?

They’re people we’ve worked with for quite a long time as the Playhouse has been a Theatre of Sanctuary since 2014. So that has really been about creating safe, creative spaces for refugees and people seeking asylum when they come to this country. That can sometimes mean we’re working with people who have the right to remain, or people who have literally arrived last week in a really varied programme

By definition being a young refugee is tough, but you say the production shows the positives of that journey too?

What we’ve found through doing this work is that there are some very, very harrowing stories where people’s lives are incredibly difficult, and we have to support them through that. But the flipside is there is a huge amount of joy from those people coming to this country and a real richness of cultural experiences. The two guys we have performing it have such an optimistic and positive energy about themselves.

Both leads are pretty new to performing so how has that influenced the process?

They are very, very likeable individuals, so we have managed to find a really good blend of not shying away from the challenges people face, but also capturing that joy, excitement and energy those young people bring to this country. The way they perform it is really fun, engaging and unique. The performers bring part of their own viewpoint as well – both positive and negative – about being in this country, but they really keep it upbeat, lively and enjoyable to watch.

What do you hope people will take away from Freedom Project?

Hopefully when people come to see the show, they will see both the light and shade of their experiences, so hopefully people will walk away with a clear, authentic understanding. And be moved to be more sympathetic, or to find practical ways to help people seeking asylum or refugees – particularly young people who perhaps don’t have family as they come here on their own.

Like so many productions this was supposed to be performed last year, but the pandemic forced a postponement. Sadly, the terrible scenes we are seeing in Kabul seem to make doing it now even more relevant.

We’ve been speaking about that in rehearsals as we’ve seen some powerful images on our screens and that has really resonated with all of us. There are also a lot of people participating on a voluntary basis as assistant directors and designers, and unfortunately it is a very timely thing. 

Do the team with their lived experiences hope that Freedom Project might change attitudes to people seeking refuge in our nation in what is a pretty chaotic world at the moment?

We’re hoping in a way to use this as a platform to encourage people to be open hearted. I think that is something the young people talk about a lot, open your heart, and the more we can encourage people to do that the better. That said, I think it is encouraging the general discourse amongst the public has been recognising that as a fairly wealthy nation, and a country that has had involvement in Afghanistan, we have a duty to support people coming to this country.

Freedom Project runs from 10th September to 18th September. To book 0113 2137700 or via https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/events/freedom-project-2/