Phosphoros Theatre Group is made up of 4 previous UASCs (Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children), who all came to the UK between 2013-2015, and Kate, the manager of a supported housing project in London where some of them were placed. The play is about these young people telling their story of why and how they came to live in the UK and some of the experiences and issues they have encountered since living in this country.
Our young people really enjoyed the show and said that it was fantastic to see how the theatre group used simple story telling to get across why they had to leave their country and coping with things like not speaking any English when they first arrived in the country. One of the personal highlights of the show was the cast singing a birthday song in Eritrean and seeing some of our young people singing along to the words to it (quietly of course, as we were in a theatre after all!)
Although we as a group had arranged to speak to the cast privately at the end of the show, some of our young people were confident enough to wander down and speak to the cast individually about their shared experiences, another undoubted highlight of the afternoon (along with the ice creams!). Our young people thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and say they would be more than happy to attend such an event again.
It was a real privilege to see this show and to be able to speak to the cast. We heard how the theatre group had started out as a way of them explaining their stories to others. They encouraged our young people to not only talk to others about their experiences but to also believe in themselves and take advantage of the opportunities open to them, including aspiring to do the best they can with their education. One of the cast explained that he arrived with no English but is now going to university in September to continue with his studies. The feedback from the group included:
“I liked the song they played, and the traditional bread, “himbasha”, and the way they did it was quite hilarious. Overall the story telling was phenomenal”
“I liked the confidence of the people, the acting and the music”
“it was all good, next year maybe I will be on the show!”
“I liked the different languages”
It is hoped that in the future, in conjunction with ArtReach, we will be able to set up some art-related event for our UASC group, such as drama or filming. I would encourage all our foster carers working with UASC to look out for this exciting project through communications either from your social worker or emails from the virtual school.