It’s a concept understood in diverse ways. At its heart it exposes contemporary racialised disadvantages and connects them to historical processes of colonialism.

This headphone verbatim ‘work in progress’ show captures campus conversations about how SOAS is seeking to challenge its founding imperial purpose and deliver its vision to decolonise the education sector.

Students on global campuses have ignited the demand to decolonise the physical space, the curriculum and institutional memory in a fight against intersectional oppression. Behind the sensational headlines, lie deeply personal and political lived experiences that go beyond the call to remove statues, repatriate artefacts and diversify reading lists.

Verbatim theatre brings to the stage compelling stories into one conversation and invites us to listen deeply. Exploring themes that range from representation and reparation to reflexivity in pedagogy, voices from the SOAS community are striving for transformative action. But can the legacies and traumas of the past be addressed within the pillars of institutions?

An insightful and timely examination of the threads that connect us and the urgent need to unravel them and come together.

‘They speak French because they’re French. We speak French because we’re colonised’

‘When you give people history, You give them value. You’re saying, you matter. The world was constructed because you were in it and people like you’

Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre

SOAS University of London, Bloomsbury WC1H OXG

Event is free but registration essential

7 – 8 February 2019

Collaborating artists: Sudha Bhuchar, Suman Bhuchar, Neela Doležalová & Kristine Landon-Smith

Directed by Kristine Landon-Smith

For further information about the cast and creatives, please click here

For further information about a recent workshop as part of this series, click here

This evolving headphone verbatim show will be part of SOAS University of London Festival of Ideas programme on 19th March and 23rd May, 2020. This evolving headphone verbatim show captured campus conversations at SOAS, examining how the university is seeking to challenge its founding imperial purpose and deliver its vision to decolonise the education sector. Verbatim theatre brings to the stage compelling stories into one conversation and invites us to listen deeply, exploring themes ranging from representation and reparation to reflexivity in pedagogy.