Celebrating Women’s Voices
On International Women’s Day, we wanted to acknowledge the incredible impact women and their stories have had, on our recent productions and projects at Dash Arts.
As International Women’s Day approached this year, we reflected on the incredible contribution womens’ voices have had on the work we’ve explored the past year; their diverse stories and backgrounds has deepened ours and our audiences’ understanding of our world.
Crimea 5am:
At the start of last year, we premiered Crimea 5am in the UK- a work of verbatim theatre penned by Ukrainian writers, Anastasia Kosodii and Natalka Vorozhbit. This play weaves together the voices of an extraordinary community of women, united by the human rights violations against Crimean Tatars since 2014.
Crafted predominantly through a female lens, Crimea 5am draws from interviews and testimonies, offering poignant insights into the lives of political prisoners' wives—their struggles, friendships, and loves. It showcases the remarkable resilience of these women, who have upheld their households amid adversity, finding solace and strength within their close-knit female community, emerging empowered and transformed through their collective experiences. On stage, we explored this community with some remarkable international female performers and activists including Iraqi/Syrian/Assyrian performer and theatre-maker, Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi, and Ukrainian journalist, Maria Romanenko.
Speech! Speech!
As part of our Albion series and research for Our Public House, we have worked with individuals across the country to examine and reflect upon the state of our nation.
On this International Women’s Day, we wanted to showcase Devika, who delivered a stirring speech offering insight into the barriers faced by women.
“I have always wanted to be an actor.
But when I expressed my desire to be an actor, the first thing my family said was – “ACTING is not an HONOURABLE profession for a woman”.
- Devika, Speech! Speech! participant
Novus: Leading Prison Education
As part of our Speech! Speech! project, we were invited by Novus to HMP Styal, a womens prison just outside Manchester. We heard uplifting and heart-wrenching speeches, revealing a recurring theme—the realisation that additional support in areas such as mental health, wellbeing, and education could have altered the course of their lives.
Kayleigh candidly discussed her struggle with accessing educational support, a need that remained unaddressed until her time in prison.
“Let’s not wait until someone is in prison to help them live their lives the way they should.”
- Kayleigh, Speech! Speech! participant
Dash Arts is committed to amplifying voices and celebrating diverse experiences and stories through our work. In the past year, it’s been inspiring to work with amazing women, sharing their narratives and perspectives with the world. We look forward to hearing more in 2024.