Come Together: an extravaganza of resistance

 

For us who are disabled, queer, kinky, sex workers, survivors, much political action (of all kinds) comes from the power of survival. To celebrate this, Resilient and Resisting hosted the Finale event, a day long take over at Arcola theatre, 24 Ashwin street Dalston, on the 14th April 2019.

An extravaganza of resistance.

Featuring contributions from radical history archives, the voices of direct action groups, and of course our own stories of fighting stigma and creating social change, these are fierce, intimate oral histories, collaborative stories, D.I.Y research and interviews from people at the intersection of several kinds of marginalisation.

THE ITINERARY ON THE DAY:

 

  • 12pm – The Travelling Archive
    Travelling archive: Bishopsgate Institute and the MayDay Rooms bring the archive to you. Peruse and discuss artefacts and articles of radical history, Workshop on DIY documentation.
  • 2pm – Direct Action Groups panel discussion
    Panel discussion: Direct action, fighting stigma and making social change, featuring speakers from: The Renters Union, Xtalk, English Collective of Prostitutes, Trans Liberation Assembly….and more tbc
  • 4pm – Food, because we have to keep our strength up!
  • 6pm – Grand Performance & Readings
    Stories of Resilience and resistance! With swoosh, glitter and song. Performance will be captioned.Sexy intimate stories of becoming, persistence and survival. Critiquing work, asking questions about HOW and why. Elder histories, lion taming, transnational travels, migration stories. All Cats Are Beautiful. How we get by! Who gets to be respectable? Pride and prejudice. Tickets to the straight world, transactions along the way, stretching the rubber band of gender, Being who we ARE. Coming together.This was a free exhibition, and a free Zine was handed out, for attendees to read along. There was also an exhibition of the posters created from the stories on show in the Arcola Foyer.
Arcola Participation is Arcola’s community, talent development, youth and programme. We are committed to challenging assumptions around who theatre belongs to and who has a right to speak, while providing opportunities to learn, train and perform under the guidance of world-class artists. We aim to deliver high quality productions that resonate both locally and globally, whilst maintaining Arcola’s welcoming and inclusive ethos.

Panel Discussion

 

Direct action groups on Stigma and social change featuring:

  • Renters Union
  • English Collective of Prostitutes
  • Trans Libreation Assembly
  • Feminist AntiFascist Assembly
  • Mental Health Resistance Network
  • XTalk (migrant sexworkers group)

Panelists discuss: why their group formed, what situation they are facing, what direct actions they have taken, what effect this had externally, what effect this had for them personally.

Grand Performance & Readings

 

A photograph of the Come Together performance at the Arcola Theatre. The stories from this, and other events can be found in this section.

There is no WHY

Story Reading

Boudica

Story Reading

Perfectly Contained

Story Reading

Lioness

Story Reading

Third Sector

Story Reading

Poster Gallery

These posters were designed as part of the event, to introduce the stories to a wider audience.

Free Zine

The zine was available on the day, and you can download your own copy below.