We took 140 Drama and Performing Arts students to see Gecko’s production of Kin at Nottingham Playhouse on 12 October.  The piece explores migration, racism and family.  Our students were extremely positive ambassadors at the theatre and gave insightful contributions to the post show Q&A where Gecko’s artistic director Amit Lahav asked the audience to share what they had connected with (most of the voices were our students!).  Here are a sample of some of our student responses:

“I really connected with the part where the performer painted themselves white and it reminded me of how I, as a black person, or person of colour, has to whitewash myself or code switch to fit into society and feel like I matter.  It made me feel seen and understood in that moment.”

“I connected with the fact the puppets were their ancestors because I was born here but my parents weren’t, so I feel disconnected from my culture back home, because I have my culture here.  It felt like they were a part of me.”

“Your piece was really inspiring.  I didn’t think I had experienced racism directed at me, but now I’m thinking at a deeper level it has made me go back to certain parts of my life to see if I was treated differently because of how I looked or how I behaved.  Now I think of it I think that has happened.”

“I think what really spoke to me was the idea of family as a whole, no matter what culture you are from, or what time period, there is always this idea of family and community.  The fact it was stripped away from these characters, whether that be from immigration borders, or people being taken away to camps, it made me take a step back and realise how lucky I am to have the family I have.”

“I connected with the moment when they had to change their clothes or how they looked to fit in with other people.  Even outside of other cultures, within one culture, everyone has to change themselves in some way to not stand out of be different.”

“I feel connected because it shows no matter what colour, what gender, or whoever you are, you should be accepted for who you are.  For me, I was born in Poland and left when I was 2 months old to come to England.  It has been hard for me to find my own culture in this English culture.”

Another audience member said this in response to our student’s insights:

“I have been feeling really depressed about everything that is going on around the world, but after hearing these marvellous young people speak tonight, I feel there is hope.”