FROM HERE ON
A new, international piece of world-class physical theatre about displacement, movement and being forced to find a new home.
Multi-award winning theatre companies Good Chance and Gecko are creating a groundbreaking performance with over 200 young people in public spaces in the UK and Europe, all about children’s right to safety, whoever they are, wherever they are from. And we’re looking for young people just like you! No performance experience needed.
Marking the 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport, we learn from the PAST
to call for safety for all in the PRESENT
to imagine and create a safer FUTURE with the next generation.
An urgent call for empathy, hope and unity that empowers new acts of solidarity and inspires a safer future for young people seeking refuge from across the world. In partnership with Safe Passage International.
GET INVOLVED
We’re looking for young people aged 11-22 based in London to join our performance group - no performance experience needed! Our story will be told through drama, dance, music and expressive performance. You’ll take part in a series of fun, playful and creative rehearsals to learn and develop new skills, and prepare to perform in an exciting outdoor production alongside professional performers from Gecko. You will also take part in activities to become a local ambassador and changemaker in your community.
Interested? Join us at a FREE recruitment workshop - a chance to get a taste of how we tell stories, meet our professional performers, and learn more about the project. The date of our open workshop is Saturday 27 April, 12pm-1.30pm at Mountview Theatre Academy, 120 Peckham Hill St, London SE15 5JT. Sign up via the button below.
If you, your school or community group are interested in joining a workshop in April and May but can’t make the date above, please contact our London Producer, Emma at emma@goodchance.org.uk.
The rehearsals through the summer will take place in a central/east London location. Performances will be around London Liverpool Street station.
Wherever you’re based in London, you’re welcome! If you need support with travel costs, tell us in the sign up form.
MORE ABOUT FROM HERE ON
Safe passage is under threat now more than ever. The Kindertransport - when 10,000 Jewish children were welcomed into the UK on the eve of World War II - is a potent symbol of hope. Made possible by a coalition of local charities, grass-roots organisations and ordinary citizens, the Kindertransport proves the people’s power to make real change.
Last year more than 45,000 people were left with no choice but to make dangerous journeys on small boats to Britain, including over 7,000 unaccompanied minors.
At this time of increasing discrimination and unprecedented global conflict, young people from across communities will come together to create an extraordinary outdoor physical theatre production that connects us all and celebrates our shared humanity.
From Here On is partnering with Safe Passage International, standing in solidarity with their demands for routes to safety for refugees and their work supporting unaccompanied children to reunite with family in safety. Through From Here On, we will draw attention to the current lack of safe routes for children, which force people to risk their lives on dangerous journeys. And we’ll highlight the urgent need for this to change, for young people to safely find new homes and be welcomed into new communities.
The project is supported and has been informed by a wide range of partners and individuals, including an Advisory Group of people with lived experience including young people who have been through the UK asylum system, a survivor from the Kindertransport, an education specialist, a communications expert with lived experience of displacement and specialist in this communications area, leaders of Jewish community and arts organisations, theatre directors and practitioners from a range of heritages and backgrounds, and local community specialists. In London, From Here On is produced in partnership with Greenwich+Docklands International Festival.
FAQs
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We’re looking for young people aged 11-22, from all backgrounds, with any level of experience (or none!)
The project is open to all, and we are particularly excited to meet young people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds. Please note that basic English is needed to take part.
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We are looking for two casts for From Here On, a Main Cast who will be part of all rehearsals and a Chorus who will only need to be part of some rehearsals.
Main Cast:
2 / 3 days during the week of 27 - 31 May 2024 - Performance Development
6 & 7 July 2024 - Introductory Day and Rehearsals
5 - 9, 11 - 13 & 18 - 19 August 2024 - Rehearsals
31 Aug & 2 - 5 Sept 2024 - Final Rehearsals
6 & 8 September 2024 - Performances
Chorus:
6 July 2024 - Introductory Day
14 - 16 & 18 - 19 August 2024 - Rehearsals
31 Aug & 2 - 5 Sept 2024 - Final Rehearsals
6 & 8 September 2024 - Performances
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No - we want this project to be open to all young people, there’s no need for you to have previous experience of dance, physical theatre or performing in general.
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We have some funding available to cover travel costs for a small number of participants.
If you think you’ll need support to attend, please complete the relevant questions in the sign-up form.
Please note, completion of this section of the form does not guarantee that you will receive any financial support.
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Most of the rehearsals take place at the weekends or in school holidays. However, for the London project the final week of rehearsals (Monday 2nd - Thursday 5th September) and the first day of performances (Friday 6th September) you may need to miss some school/college sessions.
But it’s really important to us that any young performers who take part in this project are able to keep up with their schoolwork, and we’ll make sure any learning you miss in that week will never be more than the agreed minimum hours set by the child employment regulations and with permission from your school/college.
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We’ll tell everyone who participates in a recruitment workshop whether or not they have a part in the project by the middle of May. We will choose our performers based on trying to achieve a range of ages, backgrounds and levels of performance experience across the whole of the two casts.
Even if you’re not selected to rehearse and perform the piece, there will be other ways to follow the journey and be involved so we hope everyone who comes to a recruitment workshop will be part of the wider From Here On family!
About the Recruitment Workshops
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We just ask you to fill in this short sign-up form to tell us you want to join a recruitment workshop. Thank you!
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You’ll meet members of the Gecko and Good Chance teams, and up to 25 other young people taking part in your workshop. The team will lead the group through a series of simple theatre/dance games and exercises, in which you’ll have a chance to express yourself through movement and take part in creative drama exercises.
From the recruitment workshops, Gecko and Good Chance will decide which young people they would like to invite to take part. The Main Cast will be part of the whole performance, and the Chorus will need to attend fewer rehearsals and will likely only be part of the final section of the performance.
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You don’t need to bring anything specific. But please wear appropriate clothing for movement - loose-fitting, comfortable, trainers. You might want to bring a bottle of water (although you will be able to access water there too).
More about the Project
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The rehearsals will take place over the summer and will prepare the cast of 35-50 young people to perform the piece.
Through the rehearsals, you will embody different characters and learn movement and drama sequences that will form part of our performance. You’ll be nurtured in your performance style and skills, through this unique opportunity to work with professional performers. You’ll discover more about the history of the Kindertransport and other stories of migration. And we hope you’ll have a lot of fun and make new friends and connections that will last long beyond the project.
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The performances will be powerful pieces of physical theatre - focusing on movement to tell stories, rather than speech - with 35-50 young people performing alongside 10 professional Gecko performers.
The piece will move from the past through to the present. We will start by telling stories of children leaving Germany on the Kindertransport trains and boats. We will represent similar journeys that have taken place during the past 85 years. Our performance will end with the stories of young people seeking sanctuary today.
The performances will take place outdoors at a central location around Liverpool Street Station, and will be open for anyone to attend. Performances will happen four times a day on Friday 6th September and Sunday 8th September.
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The safety, safeguarding and wellbeing of everyone taking part in projects with Good Chance and Gecko is of the utmost importance. In everything we do, we are committed to ensuring that every person we work with can participate in a safe and positive environment and feel fully supported. We have a fully comprehensive safeguarding policy and practices, based upon the principles within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and developed with expert safeguarding consultants. We will share this full policy with all parents, guardians and young people ahead of their participation in the project.
Full details of our Project Safeguarding Policies and Procedures here.
