There is a far away city which cannot be named. Its people are silenced and its landscape is disappearing.

In this distant city, daily life is stranger than fiction: you can see the sea but are forbidden to touch it, being honest is illegal and those with ancestral connections to the city are forbidden to enter it.

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Propelled by a need to tell the city’s story before it is forever forgotten, a resident records the stories behind his favourite places.

 

This alternative guided tour allows you to wander through the streets of his hometown. Your journey to this distant city will take place within the streets of Gateshead and requires only comfortable shoes and an open imagination.

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An emotional, cartographic resistance piece which actively questions who has the right to claim the history of places and objects and how we can imaginatively salvage shrinking landscapes.

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About Artists

 

Olivia Furber is a theatre director and writer working across theatre and installation; indoors, outdoors and in places you weren’t expecting to find her.

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Ramzi Maqdisi is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer and actor. His work addresses the minute and everyday aspects of life under occupation

Credits

 

Presented in partnership with the Barbican.

London premiere commissioned by Shubbak Festival.

Developed with the support of The British Council, Hoch X, The Albany, Ensemble 52 and the Blast Theory Residency Programme. The artistic concept was initially conceived through a research workshop with Meta Theater, Villa Waldberta and IETM.