Secret Voices began with a question to a group of outsiders: If you had the opportunity to speak out and have your voice heard, what would you say?
The show told nine intercut stories by nine performers. Their texts and stories emerged in different ways: some were written, some were dictated. Some were conversations or improvisations which were then transcribed.
The process followed an important rule: each word had to be written, spoken and performed by the outsider artists themselves – their stories, their words, their voices.
“The Outsiders performances at the Kneehigh Asylum were the best things I’ve seen and heard for a decade. It has changed the way I think about the stories we tell. And that goes for every single person in the audience.” Kneehigh Theatre
Written and performed by a group of outsider artists from Boscombe
Director: Nell Leyshon
Producer: Carol Maund
Assistant Director: Ninon Leyshon
Music: Deena Kashfi Jackman.
Lighting and Tech: Geoff Stevens
Theatre Design and Build: Gary Pierre
Performed as part of BEAF (Bournemouth Emerging Arts Fringe) Festival 2019. Extracts performed at Kneehigh’s Asylum, 2019.
Funded by BEAF, Arts Council England, Activate Performing Arts.
Kindly supported by Artful Scribe, Literature Works and Sovereign Shopping Centre.
