NEWS

We have reached the end of our Nordic Talks on Sustainable Leadership in the Arts, exploring the ways in which the cultural sector can work towards a more sustainable future. We wanted to host these discussions during International Leadership Week as we need to reimagine the structures we work within and whose voices are represented in the arts, to rebuild better and ensure a fairer, more representative and climate-conscious future.

Through our talks we have spoken to panellists who are frontrunners in each of their fields, changing the way they lead and inspire others and how their organisations work towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals needed to ensure our future – both in the arts and across all other industries and aspects of our lives.

This week we have learnt that we don’t have all the answers, and that that’s ok. Because we need to look out into the world to find allies, to partner with each other, create solidarity and collaborate beyond our fields to be able to do this. A sustainable future means climate action, as well as diversity, inclusivity and more open and transparent leadership.  

We have learnt that we, as cultural leaders of both organisations and individual practices, need to step to the side and keep the door open for others whose voices aren’t represented. There is no one way to lead, but cultural leaders do have a responsibility to work actively towards sustainable goals and nurture the next generation of artists and leaders. We need to share our resources, invite people into our spaces, and use the power of storytelling and the arts to bring people together to dream up a new future. We need to fight for our planet and use the arts and our curiosity to inspire others to act. We are running out of time. We need to make our cultural industry a home to everyone and work towards changing the rigid structures holding us back from achieving these sustainable goals.

There is a lot to do, and on many scales, for both large organisations, smaller companies and individual artists. But every little day-to-day step makes a difference and will lead to bigger footprints. A field of footprints becomes a movement. Together we can make the shifts needed to secure our industry is brave to fix what is broken and come together for a new way of leading.

We need to start today, not tomorrow.

We hope you will join us in learning and explore these action points for a more sustainable future for the arts.

Camilla Gürtler

Artistic Director

Cut the Cord Theatre

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Our final tech runs are done for the week! We can’t wait to share these amazing panels with you. Don’t forget you can book free tickets on our website and swipe to see our last selection of panellists for our Artist Development & The Future of Artistic Leadership talk. It was important to us to include passionate cultural leaders and movements, who are all in the position to make key changes to the industry, and who have already had the experience of making these positive shifts.

Panel 3 - Thursday 19 November 11-12:30

Kate Atkinson, Clore Leadership – United Kingdom

Kate joined Clore Leadership in March 2020 from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where she worked for 11 years in the Learning & Participation team. As Head of Community & Professional Development, Kate was responsible for leading the conservatoire’s music work with adult learners in the community, professional development for the workforce and support for students.

Clore Leadership is based at Somerset House in London and is the first initiative of its kind in the UK, aimed at developing and strengthening leadership potential across the cultural and creative sectors. Their Cultural Leadership Insights explore a range of the issues and priorities faced by cultural leaders, and their programmes and courses offer unique opportunities for cultural leaders to develop and share skills and experiences. 

Bo Anders Sundstedt, Unge Viken Teater – Norway

Bo Anders Sundstedt is the artistic director of Unge Viken Teater. Unge Viken Teater is dedicated to working with and for the age group 0-25 and defines themselves as a theatre for children and young people - and the grown ups in their lives.

New writing, new talents and new thinking about theatre and performing arts for a young audience is at the core of everything they do. 

They run the developing programme Ung Tekst [Young Texts], focusing on nurturing and developing new writing by young playwrights. Their programmes focus on supporting the next generation of artists and work as a support system for young playwrights at the beginning of their careers, all the way to their first productions.

Janne Saarakkala, Reality Research Center – Finland

Janne Saarakkala is a Finnish Director, Scriptwriter and Performer who has been working for institutional theatres, free groups, radio theatre and independent productions since 1997. He is one of the founding members of the Reality Research Center (2001-) where he started exploring live art, site specific performances, immersive theatre, journalism and international collaboration. Since 2018 Saarakkala has been working as the Artistic Director of the collective, exploring what leadership means in a collective context. His first book was published in May 2020. 

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We’ve been in online techs this week to ensure our panels run nice and smoothly for all! We’ve been running through our questions and preparing our running order for the talks. You can even get involved by asking the panellists questions through our live link. 

Panel 2 - Wednesday 18 November 11-12:30

Fin Kennedy, Tamasha – United Kingdom

Fin Kennedy is the artistic director of Tamasha theatre company. He is also an award-winning playwright whose plays have been produced in the UK and abroad, as well as an activist within the arts.

Tamasha is Britain’s foremost touring theatre company producing new plays inspired by the diversity of a globalised world. Their work places the voices of emerging and established artists from culturally diverse backgrounds centre-stage. They also have some really interesting resources and articles over on their website. http://www.tamasha.org.uk/about/resources/

Ulricha Johnson, ScenSverige / Proud Performing Arts – Sweden

Ulricha Johnson is the Managing Director/CEO of the national members’ organisation Swedish Performing Arts Coalition (SPAC). SPAC’s festival The Performing Arts Biennale is Sweden’s largest industry meeting, and Swedstage is an export festival to promote Swedish performing arts in the world. They are part of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), working with the European Council, the Action Committee for Artists Rights, as well as the workgroup initiated at the world congress 2017 – Proud Performing Arts LGBTQ+ Network and Workgroup. Johnson is openly gay and has been involved in bringing LGBTQ+ theatre to Stockholm Pride and other Swedish pride festivals for 12 years.  

Lars Werner Thomsen, Glad Teater – Denmark

Lars Werner Thomsen is a theatre director and the Artistic Director of Glad Teater. Together with Jesper Michelsen, he founded Glad Teater with the aim of creating a professional base for Danish Inclusive Performing Arts with actors with disabilities. As a director, Lars  has created and directed Glad Teater's performances, e.g. Your Eyes My Sight and VIVALDIS, and most recently, he has directed Pride Monologues during Copenhagen Pride 2020.

Glad Teater wish to broaden the knowledge of Danish Inclusive Arts by performing, co-producing and touring worldwide. Their performances range from the experimental performance universe to retelling classic stories in new ways and have a special strength in the physical and visual expression.

With just over a week to go until our first panel, we are so excited to tell you more about our panellists and their companies, along with the amazing musicians and bands we’re featuring at the end of each panel! So without further ado, we introduce our panellists for our first panel on Climate Action!

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Panel 1 - Tuesday 17 November 11-12:30

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Kay Michael, Culture Declares Emergency – United Kingdom

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Kay Michael is a theatre director and activist and the communications coordinator for Culture Declares Emergency. In 2019 she co-founded Culture Declares Emergency,

a growing international movement of individuals and organisations in the cultural sector declaring climate and ecological emergency. ‍Their mission is to ensure the cultural sector is a leading contributor in creating a regenerative future that sustains everyone, everywhere. Kay co-edited the award-winning book ‘Letters to the Earth, Writing to a Planet in Crisis’, published by

HarperCollins and introduced by Emma Thompson.

Gunn Hernes, Nordic House – Faroe Islands

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Gunn Hernes is originally from Norway and is the director of the Nordic House on the Faroe Islands. She trained in Cultural Development and has been a guest speaker and training manager for workshops in the music and performing arts field in various topics.

The Nordic House on the Faroe Islands’ primary remit, as an open and vibrant cultural venue, is to showcase Nordic art and culture on the Faroe Islands and to raise awareness about Faroese art and culture across the Nordic region. The Nordic House is one of the most important instruments that the Nordic Council of Ministers has to further the political priorities of the Nordic cultural co-operation. The house is run as a Nordic institution of art and culture with a diverse programme of music, literature, theatre, film, visual arts, lectures, conferences and much more.

Christian Gade Bjerrum, Sustainable Performing Arts Now – Denmark

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Christian Gade Bjerrum is the co-founder of Sustainable Performing Arts Now, Denmark's first organisation focusing on supporting the Danish performing art industry in working more sustainably. Their vision is to ensure the Danish performing arts industry becomes the leading sustainable arts sector in the world. Their mission is to establish Sustainable Performing Arts Now as an organisation that monitors and guides the sustainable transition in the performing arts industry. Christian is an actor, entrepreneur and nature activist and has run climate-campaigns in Nigeria, Russia, New York and Denmark, as well as running for parliament in 2019 for the green party "Alternativet".

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Cut the Cord will lead a trio of live-streamed panel discussions on Sustainable Leadership in the Arts, as part of International Leadership Week, in collaboration with the Nordic Ministry. Holding the arts to account on a global scale, the talks, featuring panellists such as Fin Kennedy (Artistic Director, Tamasha) and Bo Anders Sundstedt (Artistic Director, Unge Viken Teater), aim to highlight the importance of protecting the industry, and revitalising the status quo to encourage growth.

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Commissioned by the Nordic Ministry for their ongoing podcast series, Nordic Talks, the conversations will enable artistic directors from theatres and cultural organisations in Nordic countries and the UK, to discuss sustainability and current affairs on a global scale. Audiences can submit their questions live to the panel during the event.

We have been working hard behind the scenes to bring you a trio of free live-streamed panel discussions on Sustainable Leadership in the Arts, as part of International Leadership Week 16-19 November, in collaboration with the Nordic Ministry. Holding the arts to account on a global scale, the talks, featuring panellists such as Finn Kennedy (Artistic Director, Tamasha) and Bo Anders Sundstedt (Artistic Director, Unge Viken Teater), aim to highlight the importance of protecting the industry, and revitalising the status quo to encourage growth.

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Commissioned by the Nordic Ministry for their ongoing podcast series, Nordic Talks, the conversations will enable artistic directors from theatres and cultural organisations in Nordic countries and the UK, to discuss sustainability and current affairs on a global scale. Audiences can submit their questions live to the panel during the event.

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Sustainable Leadership in the Arts will focus on three different areas: Climate Action, Diversity and Inclusivity, and the future of artistic leadership and development. Further panellists involved include Kate Atkinson (Clore Leadership), Christian Gade Bjerrum (Sustainable Performing Arts Now / Baeredygtig Scenekunst NU), Gunn Hernes (Nordic House Faroe Islands), Ulricha Johnson (ScenSverige / Proud Performing Arts), Kay Michael (Culture Declares Emergency), Janne Saarakkala (Reality Research Centre), and Lars Werner Thomsen (Glad Teater).

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To find out more and book your tickets for the panels - head to: www.cutthecordtheatre.com/nordic-talks

We are looking to translate the work of an emerging Nordic playwright from each of the participating Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands) for our new translation programme New Nordic Voices.
 

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Our wonderful team in ‘Garage’ from #NewNordics have been working hard during lockdown to record their play for the Finnish National Theatre! You can listen to it on their website and browse our BTS page over at Cut the Cord to imagine what would have been!
ACTORS Michael Jenn (Jack) and Duncan Duff (Olly)
TRANSLATED by Eva Buchwald
DIRECTED by Lucinda Dawkins

This recording was made in the actors’ homes, and therefore not under professional recording conditions. 

The Cut the Cord team are off on a retreat! A big thank you to Wild Rumpus for offering their space for us to use! After 16 weeks of Plays by Post and another 8 months before of New Nordics prep we think it’s time to have a glass of wine by the camp fire and talk over our company strategy for 2021! Fingers crossed for good weather!

That’s a wrap! We had our FINAL panel for our #PlaysbyPost participants last night after a wonderful 12-week programme! Just look at all our beautiful books! Thank you to our amazing line up of our writers from the project as well as Sam Pritchard speaking on behalf of the Royal Court about the importance of International Collaborations along with Sissi Liechtenstein from International Performing Rights!

We’ve just had our LAST Q&A Panel for our #PlaysbyPost book! Thank you to our wonderful panelists for their insights into The Ridiculous Darkness and to our participants for their questions. We can’t wait for our final ever panel tomorrow evening on International Collaborations with some special guests as well as some familiar faces 🤭

‘Politics is more important than love’ We’ve just finished an amazing Q&A panel for B by Guillermo Calderón, translated by William Gregory! Thank you so much for coming on to answer our questions about the play and talk a little more about your work and theatre in Chile. #PlaysbyPost

We had such a fascinating Q&A Panel this Friday with the writer of The Rage of Narcissus, Sergio Blanco, and the Director and Translator, Daniel Goldman. We discussed the play and the strength of theatre and were lucky to get an insight into Sergio and Daniel’s collaboration. Thank you to all our participants that asked brilliant questions - we can't wait to share the next play with you! #PlaysbyPost

A big thank you to our panelists for tonight’s #PlaysbyPost Q&A on Amsterdam: Maya Arad Yasur, Eran Edry, Matthew Xia from Actors Touring Company. It’s been so insightful learning about Israeli Theatre this fortnight and we’re now halfway through our programme!

Tonight our participants explored Going Through by Estelle Savasta, translated by Kirsten Hazel Smith, with the wonderful director Omar Elerian and associate director Louise Stern also in the panel. A special thanks to Oliver and Kate from Overseas Interpreting for joining us and making the discussion accessible to all. We loved learning about this beautiful play, sign language and French Theatre this week! 🇫🇷

We’ve just hosted our first Q&A for #PlaysbyPost! The wonderful writer, Line Mørkeby, and translator, Kim Dambæk from I Run joined Camilla_Gürtler and all of our participants for an hour of questions about the play.

We are so excited to see our participants reading our first play for Plays by Post. We’re starting with a personal favourite of ours...I Run by Line Mørkeby and translated by Kim Dambæk! #PlaysbyPost

Remember that podcast we told you about as part of our Connecting Beyond Borders project? WELL IT’S FINALLY HERE. 

Our team have been working really hard to bring you interesting content about the things you want to know about. 

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In our first episode we talk to Jari, a Finnish Director, about Nordic Theatre and Finnish culture. 

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Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! Get streaming and let us know what you think and what else you’d like to hear from us! 

We stand in solidarity with the Black community, artists, colleagues and audiences. We can all do more to ensure justice and equality, now and in the future. We have so much to learn and there’s so much more we can do, but we are starting by finding ways of supporting important movements during this time. 
#BlackLivesMatter

We’ve had a great few days attending CPH Stage on our laptops! Over the past few days we’ve been busy discussing the future of festivals and how we as artists and organisations can explore new ways of working going forward. We’ve learnt about the current themes in Danish Performing arts, as well as sharing practices and ideas with festivals and creatives from around the world. CPH Stage is always a place for connections, and an important platform for sharing good practice, especially when we can’t physically meet. We’ve met amazing people and have lots of ideas for the future. Thanks for having us!

A big and cheesy THANK YOU to all who have donated to our New Nordics GoFundMe page so far! We are so pleased to have had the support of so many of you and we are so grateful. We are raising a glass (of coffee.. we’re professionals of course) to all who have donated! THANK YOU! #NewNordics

Due to a huge number of sign ups in our first week of launching Plays by Post, our programme is now full and we have decided to open our waiting list! Simply follow the same links in our bio! 

Thank you so much to all who have signed up, we will let you know from June 1st if your application is successful! Our waiting list is now LIVE on our website and we will let you know as soon as a place becomes available! 

Thank you once again for sharing our project far and wide! We can’t wait to start sending out our plays!

📮PLAYS BY POST | SIGN UP to our international play-club from the safety of your home today! We are so excited to finally launch our new project and bring you a new play in the post every fortnight over the course of 12 weeks. ✉️Participants will explore theatre-making from the countries involved through online workshops and Q&A’s with the writers and translators! Spaces are limited so get in quick to sign up to this FREE programme.

We are super excited to introduce our new project, Connecting Beyond Borders! The programme seeks to connect artists from the UK with international artists from around the world. We have a few different strands to this project and can’t wait to share more info with you!

PLAYS BY POST- An international play-club from the safety of your home, participants will receive a new play in the post every fortnight over the course of 12 weeks, explore theatre-making from the countries involved through online workshops, sharing ideas with each other, and engaging in a panel discussion with the international writer and British director/translator on zoom webinars.
WORKSHOPS- A collection of workshops hosted by international companies in the UK sharing their practice.
THEATRE BEYOND BORDERS - A series of podcasts exploring international theatre and demystifying how to make international work in the UK.
#ConnectingBeyondBorders #InternationalTheatre #Connecting #PlaysbyPost #UKTheatre #Artists #MigrantArtists #InternationalArtists

We are so excited to finally let you know our brilliant news! We have been supported by Arts Council England - Thank You!! - and can therefore keep going the next few months and present our new project ‘Connecting Beyond Borders’! We are SO grateful for all your shares, likes and support through this and can’t wait to share more with you soon! Please keep an eye out for future posts as we’ll be looking for artists along the way! #ConnectingBeyondBorders

A STATEMENT IN RELATION TO COVID-19

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It is with a heavy heart that we have to say we will not be going ahead with New Nordics Festival this week. Following the latest Government announcement, we and The Yard have made a joint decision not to continue our plans and postpone the festival indefinitely. 

With the exponential escalation of this public health emergency our responsibility lies with our incredible team who have worked so hard on this project, insuring their health and safety comes first. We are heartbroken we will not be able to share this festival with you and celebrate the incredible work of the writers, directors, actors and creative teams from the Nordic countries and the UK. With the current conditions we are facing around the world, we will show solidarity with our UK and international friends, and although we will not be presenting any performances this week, we hope you will join us in celebrating international connections even if we can’t physically do it together. 

We are very much hoping to bring the festival back when the time is right and will be keeping you all updated on the development of this. 

We just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been part of this festival, for sharing all your ideas with us, for being so open and supportive of international work, and for sticking by us to the very end. Thank you to all of our supporters and partners for enabling us to make this work and encouraging more international collaborations. 

Our team has created a beautiful festival together and we look forward to the day we can share it with our audiences, in better times. It definitely won’t be the end of New Nordics.

Our thoughts go out to all of those who are affected in London, around the UK and across the world. Stay safe. 

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Thank you,

Cut the Cord Theatre

1 week until New Nordics Festival opens at The Yard Theatre ! We are showcasing the best new Nordic plays from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands and hope to see you there!

18-21 March, 6 plays in 4 days! 🇩🇰🇸🇪🇳🇴🇫🇮🇮🇸🇫🇴

This week we start our rehearsals at Theatre Deli for our New Nordics Festival! We are so excited to get started and show you all our hard work this month at The Yard Theatre. 

Refuge

Introducing the wonderful Martin Donaghy who is playing Laurence. Laurence locks himself in IKEA overnight and contemplates everything from consumerism to guilt, relationships, and spiders.

Searching for Being

Introducing our wonderful performer Remi F and musician Shadè Joseph. The play is a rehearsed reading on dealing with depression, with live music and poetry.

The Woman Who Turned into a Tree

Introducing the brilliant Ellice Stevens who plays Daphne. Daphne is obsessed with clothes, class and the fir tree outside her flat, talking to her.

Garage

Introducing our brilliant duo Michael Jenn, who plays Jack, and Duncan Duff, who plays Olly. Jack and Olly start a YouTube channel to save Jack’s garage, but the videos soon turn to their history together and politics.

Counting to Zero

Introducing our brilliant actors Daisy Moore, Pernille Broch, Louie Keen and Harry Scott King. The play is a staged reading of exciting and funny mosaic events, examining the need to be seen in today’s world. 

No Planet B

Introducing the brilliant Rebecca Crankshaw and Lesley Ewen. The play is a dark comedy about the state of the climate crisis and where we as individuals fit into it all.

Here is our New Nordics Festival programme! 

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After months of reading plays from each of the 6 Nordic countries, and a long selection process for 6 UK directors, we can finally reveal our programme for the first ever New Nordics Festival 18-21 March at The Yard Theatre in London!

DAY 1: 'Refuge' by Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson - ICELAND 🇮🇸

DAY 2 (staged reading): 'Searching for Being' by Katarina G. Nolsøe - FAROE ISLANDS 🇫🇴

DAY 2: 'The Woman Who Turned Into A Tree' by Lisa Langseth - SWEDEN 🇸🇪

DAY 3: 'Garage' by Mika Myllyaho - FINLAND 🇫🇮

DAY 4 (staged reading): 'Counting to Zero' by Kristofer Blindheim Grønskag - NORWAY 🇳🇴

DAY 4: 'No Planet B' by Vivian Nielsen - DENMARK 🇩🇰

Day 4 will also feature workshops for the public on Nordic theatre and culture and working on plays in translation.

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We hope you love this programme just as much as we do! 

Tickets are ON SALE NOW so hurry up and grab yours! 

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We are honoured all the Nordic Ambassadors attended our Launch party last night!

The Nordic Embassies in London have been an incredible support of New Nordics Festival and we are so excited they got to meet our directors!

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Thank you to:
Danish Ambassador Lars Thuesen, Embassy of Denmark in the UK.
Swedish Ambassador Torbjörn Sohlström, Embassy of Sweden in London.
Norwegian Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strømmen, Royal Norwegian Embassy.
Finnish Ambassador Markku Keinänen, Embassy of Finland, London.
Icelandic Ambassador Stefán Haukur Jóhannesson, Embassy of Iceland in London.
The Faroes Head of Representation Áki Johansen, Representation of the Faroes in London.

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Also a huge thank you to the wonderful Cultural Attachés who've supported us from the beginning of the project!

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Photos by Fay Summerfield

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#NewNordics

Last night we launched New Nordics Festival at h Club London! 

The night featured an opening speech from Danish Ambassador Lars Thuesen, the reveal of our festival programme by our Festival Director Camilla Steen Gürtler, writers and directors, as well as music from Swedish singer Emilia Martensson. 

Thank you so much to all who attended - Ambassadors, embassies, theatre-makers, press. 

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And thank you to everyone who has made this project possible: 

Nordisk Culture Fund

The Nordics

Arts Council England

Danish Arts Foundation

Performing Arts Hub Norway

Embassy of Denmark in the UK

Embassy of Sweden in London

Royal Norwegian Embassy

Embassy of Finland in London

Embassy of Iceland in London

Representation of the Faroes in London

The Finnish Institute

The h Foundation

Theatre Info Finland

Norðurlandahúsið Í Føroyum.

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Photos by Fay Summerfield.

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#NewNordics

More BIG NEWS for Endless Second! We are moving to Pleasance Theatre (London) for their Best of Edinburgh season! 
Catch us in Downstairs 5/6/7 November at 8pm. 

If you missed us in Edinburgh and at Park Theatre, or if you just can't get enough of this show (like us) then tickets are just £10! 

Make sure you catch Theo Toksvig Stewart‘s critically acclaimed ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ play about consent in a relationship.

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#EndlessSecond

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! 

'Endless Second' is going to Park Theatre London as part of their Pick of the Fringe! We are so excited to take this new play by Theo Toksvig Stewart back to London after a critically acclaimed run at Pleasance in Edinburgh! 

'Endless Second' will be playing in Park90 14th September 4:30pm & 8:30pm, so if you didn't get to catch us in Edinburgh, make sure you do next week! 

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"As excellent as it is important." - ThreeWeeks

"The best, most thought-provoking show at this year's Fringe." - UK Theatre Web

"Capably performed and directed with a vivacious energy." - The List

Another great review for 'Endless Second' from our time at Edinburgh Fringe. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from the Wee Review!

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"Instead of simply falling back on a firm political position, either dismissing rape allegations as hysteria or painting M as a rudimentary misogynistic stereotype, Toksvig-Stewart does the opposite, and by doing so enables his play to be a far deeper exploration of what is often treated as a simple ‘hot button’ topic."

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Read the full review here.

Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for 'Endless Second' from Broadway World!

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"The two performers work well and the direction is tight. He is the shy and playful devoted boyfriend and she is sweet but then filled with rage and resentment.

It's a tough subject and Cut the Cord Theatre deal with it in a sensitive manner making for an uncomfortable but important watch."

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Read the full review here.

Another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for 'Endless Second' from The List!

"Capably performed and directed with a vivacious energy, Endless Second is a bold production that demands self-analysis and provokes discomfort for the self-satisfied who mistake opinions for actions, or meaningful opposition to abuse of women."

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Read the full review here.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for I RUN at Pleasance Courtyard!

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"Acted on a treadmill this is a really punchy and challenging piece that is delivered sensitively and with genuine credibility." UK Theatre Web.

"The portrayal of rape and sexual assault onstage is always problematic, but the approach taken here is deftly sensitive and powerfully effective. Who speaks – who has the right to speak, the power to speak – is the central device, fundamental to the success of the play. In early scenes, such as the meet-cute and the playful blossoming of the relationship, the unnamed lovers describing and narrating one another’s actions reflects their romantic awkwardness and sexual tension. After the rape, however, things change. He speaks for her, taking ownership of her trauma but never acknowledging his own actions; her attention to the details of his body reflects her anxiety and uncertainty. Powerful, timely, and sensitive, ‘Endless Second’ is as excellent as it is important." - ThreeWeeks.

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"I was personally moved by this work, my face wet with tears and my throat tight. Seeing a man express an emotional trauma so eloquently and convincingly is a fine and important thing and I highly recommend this show." - FringeReview

Another **** for ENDLESS SECOND!

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"Everyone needs to see Endless Second – that, unlike anything that the performance examines, is simple."

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"Anybody and everybody should be listening, and anybody and everybody should recognise what is going on. It is a great piece of theatre, and I’d recommend it in a heartbeat."

Theatre Bubble came to our Nordic Reception at the fringe and wrote this article about the Nordic shows this year.

"The rain poured down that night but the extraordinary range of Nordic talent lifted the spirits. It was a friendly and well organised event and little bit glamorous as there was an appearance of The Greatest Divets, Drag artists in a swathe of wigs, eye lashes, glitter and vertiginous heels. (...) Nordic countries will, I am sure, shine a light on this 2019 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh."

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Organisers: WILDTOPIA, Danse- og teatersentrum / Performing Arts Hub Norway, From Start To Finnish, New Nordics Festival (Cut the Cord) and The Royal Norwegian Consulate in Edinburgh.

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Supported by: Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond ), Embassy of Denmark in the UK, Embassy of Sweden in London, Embassy of Iceland in London , Norwegian Embassy in London

"The piece examines the persistence of grief by reinforcing its timelessness. Past, present and future exist together eternally. Although he’s running, he stays in the room with us, never moving an inch; the more he takes us into the future, he’s sure to take us back to those final moments with his daughter, again and again. His emotional journey is huge, but it seems at times hopeless. As his near-continuous running is boxed in by the fluorescent lights to his sides, he appears forever moving between entrapment and freedom – making the piece, as a whole, hellishly durational and inspiring in its persistence."

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Read the review here.

Another *****  for Endless Second from UK Theatre Web!

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"The best, most thought-provoking show at this year's Fringe."

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Read the full review here.

Did you attend the Nordic Reception at the fringe? We had a great time hosting with Wildtopia and From Start to Finnish!

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On the 6th of August we co-hosted a Nordic Reception for the arts industry, and Ms. Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary of Culture, Tourism and external affairs from the Scottish Government attended alongside the Danish Cultural Attaché, Lone Britt Christensen!

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Thank you to Edinburgh Fringe Society and Assembly festival and particularly General Manager Sharon Burgess for kindly helping us to host the event in The Treehouse Bar in Assembly George Square Gardens.

There are more than 37 shows from the Nordic countries at Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year! See the list of all the Nordic shows here.

The Nordic collaboration was fostered by WILDTOPIA in 2018. This year the Nordic collaboration NORDIC PRESENCE is made by WILDTOPIA, Performing Arts Hub Norway, From Start to Finnish, New Nordics Festival (by Cut the Cord), The Royal Consulate of Norway and supported by Danish Arts Foundation, The Embassy of Denmark in the UK, The Embassy of Sweden in the UK, The Embassy of Iceland in the UK.

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Photos by: Andrew Perry

Two more great reviews for ENDLESS SECOND!

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"It smashes all stereotypes about rape and sexual violence."

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**** Broadway Baby

**** British Theatre Guide

Writer Theo Toksvig-Stewart shared what inspired him to write Endless Second in this article for Female First.

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"Consent is too often toted as “women’s issue,” but I hope my play helps break that veneer and show that it’s a men’s issue too. Men are (majoritively) the perpetrators and, leaving behind the societal and systemic constructs that contribute to this crisis, we have to create a safe space for both women and men to talk about their experiences. Only through dialogue can we move forward and learn from our mistakes; the more we talk about it, the more we see it, the more our awareness of the nuanced and complex aspects of our common experience become easier to identify."

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Read the full interview here.

ENDLESS SECOND has received 5 stars from Bouquets and Brickbats!

*****

"An intense, emotionally demanding piece - and, my word, it's impressive."

"So many women (and men) have experienced a consent breach in one way or another, yet we still find it so hard to talk about, as soon as it involves people we love and trust. The play seeks to demystify the stereotype of a stranger in a dark alley waiting with intent and makes us rethink what consent is and how we respect the people we love."

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Read the full interview with writer Theo Toksvig-Stewart, director Camilla Gürtler and actor Madeleine Gray here.

We are so excited to announce that I RUN has been published by Oberon Books! 

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It's very rare Nordic plays get published so we are over the moon that Line Mørkeby's powerful play is now on sale in the UK!

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You can grab your copy on their website, at Pleasance Below during Edinburgh Fringe or soon at a bookshop near you!

"He's running with this loss for the rest of his life".

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Read the interview with director Camilla Gürtler and actor Max Keeble on the making of I Run and why this is a must-see at Edinburgh Fringe.

"Running is once again a theme of a play at the Edinburgh Festival. The nation's favourite way to stay fit is providing the inspiration for Danish playwright Line Mørkeby's work –  I RUN. The Cut the Cord production is a fast-paced and moving one-man play about how you survive the death of your child."

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Read the rest of the article on runABC Scotland!

We are excited to present our 2nd show at Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year: 

Endless Second by Theo Toksvig-Stewart. 

Endless Second is a play about consent within a relationship and how we talk about rape and explores how two people deal with a trauma that fundamentally alters the nature of their relationship. 

Endless Second is the debut play by Theo Toksvig-Stewart and received its first staging at Theatre503 back in January.

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Fun Fact: Endless Second is inspired by a TED Talks with Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger: Our story of rape and reconciliation. Have a watch here.
 

Endless Second is playing at Pleasance Courtyard 3:20PM 31 July - 26 August. 

We can finally reveal we are taking not one but TWO shows to the fringe this year!

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We are excited to present our 1st show at Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year:

I Run by Line Mørkeby, translated by Kim Dambæk. 

I Run is a Danish play about a dad whose daughter dies of cancer, so he starts running to cope with the loss.

I Run played at the Vault Festival this year and received ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️from A Younger Theatre and Londontheatre1.com.

Fun Fact: Our actor runs throughout the entire show - which comes to about 9K per show! 😱💪

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I Run is playing at Pleasance Courtyard 1:55PM 31 July - 26 August.

Another great review for I RUN at the Vault Festival from The Play’s The Thing! 

And another great ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for I RUN from Londontheatre1.com! 

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"I found this to be an incredibly moving (sorry) and absorbing piece of theatre, an intense but also surprisingly invigorating experience."

The reviews are in for I RUN at the Vault Festival! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from A Younger Theatre! 

"Sucks you into the life-shattering void that is loss"

Cut the Cord is co-hosting a post-show Q&A and reception with the Danish-UK Association on Saturday the 16th of March after the 16:50 matinee:

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The Danish-UK Association invites you to a special night at the theatre.  See the show and then post performance, over a glass of wine meet actor Max Keeble and Artistic Director Camila Gürtler for the full story and a chance to ask questions.

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About the Danish-UK Association

We are a ‘forening’ a Danish word that best translates as Association or Fellowship – meaning the more you put in the more you get out. Whether that’s attendance at our varied business, social, sporting or cultural events, furthering connections within the network or simply using our website to interact over the latest news, offers and updates, we’re about what works for you.

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For tickets and more information see below.

Read the interview with director Camilla Gürtler, actor Max Keeble and producer Ludwig Meslet about everything running, doing a play about grief and why Scandinavian theatre is the exciting thing right now.

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“What’s more interesting than the place the play comes from is the way Danish playwrights talk about these issues. It’s direct, very rhythmic and poetic. It’s a frame that is quite unique – it shifts a different light onto the subject. A lot of international work is about doing things slightly differently so bringing this play to the UK is like seeing the subject in a new light, that sense of different cultures coming together.” - Camilla Gürtler

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Read the full interview below.

I RUN rehearsals are sponsored by Puregym and we've started rehearsing on the treadmills in Waterloo!

Children with Cancer have generously sponsored I RUN at the Vault Festival 13-17 March. We are very honoured to be working with them on spreading awareness of childhood cancer and will encourage our audience members to support their work. 

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Children With Cancer's mission is to improve survival rates and the quality of survival in young cancer patients and to find ways to prevent cancer in the future.

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Read more below.

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We are also kindly sponsored by the Danish Embassy

Our performer Max Keeble and writer Line Mørkeby did an interview with Runner's World about all things running and making a play coping with grief on a treadmill. 

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"Sorrow is something we think we have to get through as fast as possible. The play discusses the merits of this, and looks at running as one way of dealing with grief. I don’t know if [running] works for everybody, but it’s a way to remind yourself your heart is still beating and you’re alive" - Line Mørkeby

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Click below and read the interview!

ENDLESS SECOND by Theo Toksvig-Stewart had its very first performance at Theatre503 and got a fantastic reception from the audience!

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Here are some of the audience reactions:

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"Endless Second by Theo Toksvig-Stewart was an exceptional debut play."

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"Incredibly poignant"

"BRILLIANT! Marvellous! Intense! Engaging! Funny! Smart! I loved it."

"Beautifully and delicately written. Wonderfully acted. Excellent direction."

"Thoughtful, tightly written and excellent performances."

"It was SENSATIONAL!"

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We are hoping to bring back this fantastic production, so keep an eye on this page!
 

We've got a New Year surprise for you!

On the 16-17th Jan we take over Theatre503 with the premiere of brand new play ENDLESS SECOND by Theo Toksvig Stewart!

"I’m a good person, I’m a nice person, I couldn’t do that.”

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Endless Second is a play about consent within a relationship, and examines how perpetrators can take responsibility for their actions. It challenges how we perceive ourselves and explores how acceptance can lead to reconciliation.

Playing at Theatre503 16-17 Jan 19:30.

Book your tickets now and be the first to see it! 

It's finally official: I RUN is going to the Vault Festival 2019! Catch us in the Cage 13-17th March in the final week of the festival. Ticket are on sale now so get yours booked!

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There is a strictly limited 2-4-1 offer on the Stagedoor app, which you can download here:

https://stagedoorapp.com

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A dad loses his 6-year old daughter to cancer, and his world falls apart. He doesn’t know how to process the life-shattering void following her premature death. He starts running to deal with his loss. Only, he can’t stop. He runs through the pain, the memories and the grief to try and find the point where he no longer runs, but soars – the point where he is close to her again. 

I RUN is a fast-paced, explosive and moving one-man play about running, grief and missing someone we love. About how you survive the death of your child. It explores how exercise can improve mental health, the rise of male depression, and why we find it so hard to talk about death.

This piercing piece of new writing by award winning Danish playwright Line Mørkeby is brought to the Vault Festival for the very first time, following its UK premiere at Drama Centre London in 2018.

As part of our production of Beyond the Blue at Camden People's Theatre we collected 60 teddies with special messages written by our audience members. Each personal message was for a refugee child, collected for The Teddy Trust, who send teddies out to children affected by war zones. Sometimes these teddies are the only gift a child has received.

The teddies were then packed by the Cut the Cord team and sent off to the Teddy Trust - who have now confirmed that they are off to Iraq in time for Christmas! 

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We are so moved by all the wonderful messages and thoughts from our audience members. If you'd like to donate a teddy for Christmas, take a look at The Teddy Trust Website here:

http://teddytrust.org.uk

Beyond the Blue opened on Monday to a full house! We received an incredible response after the play and have 3 venues interested in a tour in 2019!

We couldn't have done this without our supporters, so thank you! 

Here are some of the comments:

Refugee Rights Europe: "A member of our team was able to attend and told me what a wonderful, well-thought out play it was! I am delighted to hear that you used RRE work in the play, and we are so glad that you found our work useful."

Almeida Participation: "I really enjoyed the playfulness of it and I thought the way you incorporated the toys from the teddy trust worked nicely too."

National Youth Theatre: "Congrats, that was great, loved the concept."

Omnibus Theatre: "Congratulations on the show - it was incredibly affecting and brilliantly put together."

The Space: "Such a fascinating and worthwhile project. I thought the juxtaposition of children's theatre and refugees was interesting."

by Camilla Gürtler

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Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is seeing it as if for the first time, the saying goes. We make up the most fantastic stories when we are little. And in our honesty, we sometimes manage to voice things adults aren’t able to. So it’s always seemed strange to me that we’ve catagorised children’s and adults’ stories into two different compartments – sometimes they touch, but for some reason it seems easier to label them “children’s stories” – why not just stories? There seems to be a proposed limit to what children’s stories – and children – can talk about.

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This is the question that led to the creation of Beyond the Blue. I’d been teaching the 5-7 year olds at Omnibus Youth Theatre for a while when we started creating their own plays. We focused on story-telling techniques, writing for the stage, creating characters and directing, and then created wonderful plays with mad characters and settings. But every time, with the freedom to create whichever story they wanted, they always wrote something political, a poignant note on the world today and what we as adults seem to debate endlessly. Different races waging war on each other, deforestation and protection of the rainforest – the children were eager to have their say about a world where they’re still seen as “passengers”.

In 2016 this led to the creation of Beyond the Blue. The first class back from Christmas, and we were looking to write a play on the themes of losing your home and crossing the sea to find a new one. I asked the children what this would be like, and one said: “It’s like the boy on the beach”. And then Beyond the Blue was born.

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Children are sponges. What we see in the media, they see. When we create division, they feel it too. And it was very clear that these 5-7 year olds had been following the refugee crisis, only they didn’t understand why it was happening. When asked what it would feel like, they came up with a universal truth – It’s like toys, who are our favourite friends in childhood, being told they can’t play. It’s like the world losing all its colour. It’s that moment when you enter Sweetie-Land and can eat all the sweets you want, but only if you change who you are and become like the others.

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Beyond the Blue is a moving parallel to what the children saw in the media, and to the questions they were asking themselves. Why are we being treated differently? Why can’t we all play together? What if our toys – and the children used their own ones as inspiration for the characters – had to go through all of this? How would they manage? Who would they meet? The unfairness of the Toy-Smuggler and restrictions the Evil Queen imposes – these are imaginative responses to that picture on the beach and many others like it.  That all-important question of how can we show empathy and start to understand what that would feel like, when our worlds seem so different. Beyond the Blue tries to find a way to express these questions in a way we can all relate to – our childhood friends and way of seeing the world. Maybe it is time to let children help us see the world as if for the first time again.

CAST ANNOUNCEMENT! We'd love to introduce you to the wonderful cast of Beyond the Blue at Camden People's Theatre!

Teddy: Wayne Wilson
Tiger: Fay Summerfield
Owl: Helena McColl
Monkey: Theo Toksvig Stewart

Directed by: Camilla Gürtler
Designed by: Niall McKeever

Written by the children at Omnibus Theatre

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Wayne Wilson joins Cut the Cord to play Teddy.

Wayne is a recent graduate from Drama Centre London. Past credits include: The Soldier (The Soldier’s Tale), Oswald (King Arthur).
TV credits: Jesus Christ (The message of Fatima).

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Fay Summerfield returns to play Tiger.

Fay trained at East 15. Since graduating, she's been involved in projects with Omnibus Theatre, new writing and short films. She's also toured with the National Youth Theatre of Wales and of Great Britain. 
On the side of acting, she also works as a photographer, working in fashion and events.

Check out her website www.faysummerfield.com

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Helena McColl returns to play Owl. 

Helena trained at Drama Centre where she was in a number of productions such as Mary Barnes, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Hedda, 
Tartuffe, The Country Girl, The Cherry Orchard, and As You Like It playing Orlando. She has also previously worked at Camden People's Theatre, the Rag Factory and Theatre 503. 
TV credits: The Crown.

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Theo Toksvig Stewart returns to play Monkey. 

Theo trained at Drama Centre London. He made his professional stage debut in the English Touring Theatre's production of Silver Lining and his television debut in Eastenders. Other work includes The Croydon Avengers (Maya Productions) and N89 (Matchstick Theatre).

Have you booked your tickets for 'Beyond the Blue' yet?

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We're part of the No Direction Home festival at Camden People's Theatre - it's a one-off, so grab them while you can! 

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ABOUT THE PLAY

Beyond the Blue questions what it would be like to lose your home and look for a new one, and what effects conflict can have on a child.

The play was written by 5-7 year olds exploring how we can put ourselves in other people's shoes and show empathy towards refugees new to the UK. The play was inspired by pictures from Syria, and the children created a storyline featuring four toys escaping their home at war, looking for a new place of belonging, mirroring the reality of what's been happening in the world the last couple of years.

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NO DIRECTION HOME
What does it mean to be an exile – or a descendant of exiles? To whom do we owe refuge, and how do we best provide it? Who gets to feel at home in Britain in 2018 – and who doesn’t?

This autumn, CPT presents a new festival exploring displacement, migration and refuge. Ranging from the de-funding of women’s refuges to the ongoing migrant crisis and beyond, this three-week event features workshops, discussions and electrifying new theatre from the brightest and boldest of UK and international artists.

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#CPTNoDirection
#BeyondTheBlue

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Check out our event!

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And get your tickets here!

Thank you so much to all who came to see I RUN last week at Drama Centre London, Central Saint Martins! We are overwhelmed by the positive response and can't thank you enough for being so supportive! Our run might have finished, but we are brewing plans for the future so keep an eye out for us! 
In the meantime if you have any thoughts on the play we'd love to hear from you :)

And if you were moved by the play and want to make a difference to those families who sadly go through this - check out Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group - CCLG on www.cclg.org.uk. There are many ways we can support them :)

A big thank you to our wonderful company, and to the Embassy of Denmark in the UK, British Council Denmark, International Performance Rights and Nordiska for all their support. 

See you all in the future for more 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Photo by Fay Summerfield 

We did it! First night of I RUN and a standing ovation! We are so immensely proud of Max Keeble and our team, and with Line Mørkeby herself in the audience we think we kicked off with a bang! Thank you so much to all who came, and we can’t wait for our next performances! 🏃🏃

I RUN runs 15-19th May at Drama Centre London, Central Saint Martins.

We are really excited to announce that we are raising awareness for the incredible Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group - CCLG in relation to our production of ‘I Run’. CCLG has been so kind to provide us with vital research and we’d love to spread the word about the incredible work they do. If you have a moment, visit their website - there are many ways you can help them beat childhood cancer. 

I RUN is about a dad whose 6-year old daughter dies of leukaemia, and he runs to cope with the loss and feel her. It plays at Drama Centre London 15-19 May, we would love to see you there. 

If you want to know more about how to support CCLG, send us a message or visit their website below. Let’s spread the word and make a difference! 💪🏻🏃