This event will offer a public conversation and performance exploring the development of Songs of Solidarity, a new theatre work examining contemporary forced migration through the lens of epic storytelling. Hosted at Senate House as part of Josephine Burton’s tenure as Practitioner in Residence, the event will bring together Josephine Burton (Dash Arts, co-director), Professor Fiona Macintosh (University of Oxford, APGRD), and one of the five commissioned writers on the project.
Co-writer and director Josephine Burton brings newly adapted excerpts to New York, performed live by US-based Ukrainian actors, ahead of the production's full North American tour in 2027.
Alongside the performance, Burton joins Peter Pomerantsev, co-founder of The Reckoning Project, for a conversation on the testimony behind the work and the project's mission to document war crimes for future prosecution.
A journalist meets a man in a ruined village outside Kyiv. Why don't you start with when the war began for you?
A vivid and powerful new play about war, survival and the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who must live with it.
A journalist meets a man in a ruined village outside Kyiv. Why don't you start with when the war began for you?
A vivid and powerful new play about war, survival and the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who must live with it.
"We don't need fortresses; we need ports."
In this episode, Josephine Burton sits down with one of the world's most brilliant minds on myth and belonging, Dame Marina Warner. From the haunting songs of our childhood to the timeless epic of Gilgamesh, Marina explores the radical idea that storytelling isn't just entertainment but survival.
Recorded in Marina’s beautiful, art-filled home, this conversation opens with her mother’s courageous post-war journey to England. Discover the extraordinary story behind Stories in Transit, Marina’s work with young refugees using the power of ancient epics to reclaim their identities, break through language barriers, and turn the tide on "us vs. them" narratives.
What does it take to reclaim your voice when your country wants to silence it - and then take it on stage?
This is the second in our Songs of Solidarity series - conversations with artists, academics, writers and thinkers whose lives and work illuminate the themes at the heart of our new production: migration, displacement, survival, and the stories we tell to make sense of all three.
How do you create an epic for the modern world?
This is the start of our Songs of Solidarity mini-series; Josephine Burton and Maria Aberg take us behind the scenes as they discuss the journey of the last 18 months—from researching ancient epic traditions with academics to interviewing those with lived experiences of migration. Join us for a conversation about the art of "future-making," resisting traditional singular narratives, and the exciting, messy process of creating something new.
Songs of Solidarity, is a PROJEKT UTOPIA and Dash Arts co-production. We’re currently in the research and development stage co-produced with the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, in partnership with the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama, School of Advanced Studies, Roundhouse London, Asylum Welcome and Unbound Philanthropy. We are particularly grateful to Fiona Macintosh for her support and encouragement throughout.
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A journalist meets a man in a ruined village outside Kyiv. Why don't you start with when the war began for you?
A vivid and powerful new play about war, survival and the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who must live with it.