Migration is the defining theme of our time. It is also a central motif in Shakespeare’s plays. In this workshop poet Laila Sumpton and theatre director Arne Pohlmeier – co-founders of Bards without Borders – will subtly deploy antiracist and decolonising practices to offer you a powerfully new/de-centred perspective on the works of William Shakespeare. This pre–Refugee Week workshop is particularly aimed at teachers, educators, lecturers and artists who regularly work with Shakespeare. Using The Comedy of Errors as a starting point, the workshop will equip you with a set of practical, hands-on drama and creative writing exercises to refresh and revitalise your creative engagement with the Bard and his work.

In the Shakespeare Memorial Library on Floor 9 of the Library of Birmingham you can also visit “You can see me, but I don’t exist” an exhibition of photography by Alan Gignoux and creative writing by refugees living in Birmingham, London, and Manchester. Poems about the present day lived experiences of those seeking sanctuary will help us bridge past and present.

About Bards Without Borders

Bards Without Borders was founded by poet Laila Sumpton and theatre director Arne Pohlmeier in 2016 for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. We support the creative development of refugee and migrant poets and our show, debating whether or not the Bard should be buried, included new poetry in 10 different languages and toured to over 20 venues. We also delivered a series of school workshops on global Shakespeare in libraries and are excited to be back in the Library of Birmingham and to work with the Everything to Everybody Project.

The workshop is FREE but please secure your place on the Eventbrite booking page.