In September 2022, I produced a Local Talent night that took place at Theatre Royal Winchester. I organised the event as part of my role as Project Manager for Hat Fair and Playmakers.
The event took place on the stage at Theatre Royal Winchester with 8 different local acts performing. The evening focused on themes of belonging, identity and culture. For many of the acts, it was their first opportunity to perform in Winchester, in front of an audience.
I curated the acts to ensure a blend of diverse voices being represented on stage. With performers from Ukraine, Iraq, Iran as well as those local to Winchester and the surrounding area, the event was multicultural and representative of the different communities living in Hampshire.
I worked with the performers in advance of the performance to ensure they felt confident, comfortable and in control of their performance.
Performers included:
Nabaz – a refugee from Iraq – who played the Oud which is a traditional Middle Eastern instrument.
Majid and Rishky – spoken word poets whose performances included themes of identity, culture and belonging.
Hannah Harrison – Senior technician at the Theatre Royal – who I persuaded at the last minute to emerge from backstage and share her singing talent with the audience.
The Twin Monsters – Iranian refugee teenagers who played the piano during the interval. This was one of their first performance opportunities since moving to the UK.
Harry Corrie – a spoken word performer and student at the University of Winchester. He performed poems on the subject of feminism and male identity. Harry was a runner up of our annual Top Hat competition.
Joel Stobbs – a local singer songwriter and student at the University of Winchester – our other Top Hat runner up.
The Ukrainian Female Choir. In September, the choir had only been recently formed of members who had moved to Winchester due to the war in Ukraine. They performed traditional Ukrainian folk songs with introductions to explain the meaning and context of the words they were singing.
After the event, audience members shared how the evening had taught them more about the lived experiences of those living in their local area, given them an insight into the challenges faced by others and allowed them to reflect on the current state of affairs in the UK.