Commissioned by the producers of the Hostry Festival and inspired by cast members’ interest once more in the importance of free movement for people.
In their uniquely open and highly creative way, the regular cast of Total Ensemble Theatre Company shared thoughts about the words strange and stranger and the pain caused by racism, prejudice and suspicion of differences between humans. All this, at a time when our country had just become divided over a particular referendum. A fearful wave of strange feeling and isolation had washed over this small isle of ours. Over the summer, the TETC cast devised around themes and emotions triggered by our many discussions.
In the autumn, precariously close to the end of the rehearsal period, a small cast of new performers was engaged to create the ‘other side’ of the story. These “Strangers” arrived in September and in isolation we worked out their part of the story. They washed up on the shores of the larger TETC cast at the beginning of October and the cast of two halves performed together to tell the story from both sides.
