Selina Thompson (Birmingham)

Twine

Wednesday 16 October 2024Saturday 19 October 2024

144 Potters Ln
Birmingham, B6 4UU United Kingdom
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Presented with Roots Festival

120 minutes | £15/13 | 14+

Twine contains strong themes & language which some people may find difficult. The work explores the long term impact of social care systems, including adoption, foster care, prison and judicial systems and the circumstances that lead to people being caught up in those systems, and the harm they can inflict. This includes but is not limited to physical abuse and neglect, miscarriage, the death of an infant, and of a sibling; and family separation and breakdown.

The show looks at the long term impact of traumatic events, grief, poor mental health, and the impact of discrimination and oppression are grappled with head on.

There is an invitation during the show for some audience members to join the company on stage as part of a long table sequence, that is facilitated by the actors with no pressure on any audience member to join in, or contribute anything they are not comfortable sharing.

A person stares directly to camera, we see her head and shoulders. She is holding a baby wrapped in white swaddling and wearing an outfit that has giant leaves printed in brown onto beige fabric. The backdrop are trees and greenery.

Myah Jeffers

A person is sitting in a forest clearing with a large tree and lots of greenery behind her. She is wearing a beige floor length outfit with giant brown leaves printed on it. She holds a baby swaddled in white material in her left arm. Her right arm is outstretched.

Myah Jeffers

BUY TICKETS HERE

‘No adoption show! Too private, too personal, too intimate, too triggering, too scary, and too many ramifications you can’t control!’

Writer has broken a promise: this show is the consequence(s).

Set in a forest of bloody eggs, ghost family members, vaudeville politicians and broken TVs, Twine is the story of how Seed, Sapling and Bark liberated themselves and each other from a legacy of shame, violence and silence.  Irreverent and full of yearning, Twine offers a unique odyssey into all that our families are, and all that they could be.

Fall into a forest of family trees haunted by Stuart Hall and bell hooks, Kat Slater (yes, that one) and Medea, where taboos are broken, and yearnings and desires grow deeper, richer and riskier than they could ever have imagined.

‘Abolish Adoption! Even if yours went well. Abolish the family! Even though we love them’

Twine is a story about love and loneliness, families and ghosts, and the way in which one shattering moment can transform multiple family trees for generations to come.

The 7pm performance of Twine on Saturday 19 October is included in our Bear (AKA Full Week) and Otter (Weekend Max) Passes. The 7pm performance of Twine on Friday 18 October is included in our Pup (Weekend Lite) Passes. Click here for more information about our passes.

Following the 2pm performance of Twine on Saturday 19 October will be a free Open Discussion + Q&A from 4pm to 5:30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Credits

Written by: Selina Thompson
In Collaboration with: Jennifer Tang (Director) & Naomi Kuyck-Cohen (Designer) 

Commissioned by Yard Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, Live Theatre, Theatre in the Mill & Cambridge Junction with support from the Stobbs New Ideas Fund

With support from ‘Support Not Separation’ & the Foster Parents, Adopters, Social Workers, Academics, Artists & Activists that have shared their stories. 

Twine R&D was originally supported by an Arts Council of England (ACE) Project Grant; Selina Thompson Ltd is an ACE ‘National Portfolio Company’

Access

Please check back closer to the performance date for further access information.

Fierce Says

Birmingham’s own Selina Thompson was last seen at Fierce in 2015 with Race Cards. She returns with a dizzyingly ambitious, open-hearted and intelligent work that we’ll be sitting with and talking about for months (years??) after we see it.

Details

Wednesday 16 October 2024

7.00pm

Thursday 17 October 2024

7.00pm

Friday 18 October 2024

7.00pm

Saturday 19 October 2024

2.00pm

Saturday 19 October 2024

6.30pm