Made in Partnership with Theatre Centre. A Co-Production with New Wolsey Theatre. Supported by Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja (Indonesia) and The Point Eastleigh
Touring from Autumn 2023
Feel Me is our latest show, which will premiere in 2023 and will explore the urgent theme of empathy through a story of displacement.
Feel Me will be made by a team of exceptional, multi-disciplinary young artists, in collaboration with The Paper Birds.
Working closely with refugee charities, we will together to share the real story of a young person who has been displaced, and their long and challenging journey in pursuit of a new place to call ‘home’.
Transcending barriers of language and culture, we will create a largely non-verbal, visual, musical and physical piece, that speaks to the heart and connects audiences in the UK and across the globe.
A collaboration of theatre and film, Feel Me seamlessly jumps in time and location, mood and sensations, as it takes audiences on an emotional and socio-political rollercoaster, through landscapes and across borders, through weather storms and paperwork, changing seasons, endless queues and interviews. Worlds will unfold from backpacks and tents to be constructed and dismantled again, each scene and location temporary, like a transient teenager in search of safety and acceptance.
A stunning mixture of live performance and screened filmic content (including both pre-recorded film footage, and filming live on stage from the performers), Feel Me will also play with modes and genres: perhaps one moment an Instagram post, the next a documentary, maybe a TikTok dance, or a news bulletin, twisting, reframing and applying different lens to the way stories are told and understood in our modern world.
Feel Me seeks real world impact and action: as active participants within the show, audiences are gently and anonymously asked to share how they feel about the story they are witnessing at different moments, and to consider who they connect with, who they feel empathy for and why. This will be measured using innovative software accessed by the audience during the show in a series of collaborative ‘check-in’ moments, with results creatively shared live as part of the performance. Supported by academics from Essex University, we will bring together a study of the impact of the show on our audiences and their empathy levels.
Audience experience guidance:
Suitable for ages 13 years+.
Please get in touch with Executive Producer Charlie to find out more and book the show: c.tapp@thepaperbirds.com
Funded by British Council International Collaboration & Arts Council England
To Book please get in touch with Executive Producer Charlie: c.tapp@thepaperbirds.com
Company Number: 05363584
Charity Number: 1182736
VAT Number: 223374134