OffScript

In part 2 we’re looking at the impact of politics on the most recent productions from Dash Arts. We explore our 2025 production of The Reckoning, which brought real-life testimonies from Ukraine to the stage, and the upcoming 2026 production of Our Public House, inspired by speeches from people across England.  Marina Pesenti, former Director of the Ukrainian Institute, looks back at how more than a decade of artistic research, events and productions deepened our understanding of the Ukrainian context and enriched the work. Similarly, playwright Barney Norris reflects on the challenges of continuing to navigate the shifting political and social landscape in the UK and its influence on Our Public House. Go to the Dash Arts website for your tickets to We Are Free To Change The World; a new series of three Dash Cafés exploring how artists and creative activists respond to the urgency of our times. Through performance, film and conversation, each event will bring together creative voices to consider how we act and how we do this together.  Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi [https://www.maroufmajidi.com/]  And you can hear audio taken from Dash Arts’ production of The Reckoning at Arcola Theatre in May-June 2025 ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

In this special two-part series, we're celebrating Dash Arts' 20th birthday by looking back at how politics has impacted our work over the past two decades. In episode one, join Josephine Burton as she explores how artists and creative activists respond to the urgency of our times. Hear from storyteller Sophie Austin on our production of One Thousand and One Nights, which challenged preconceived notions of Arabic culture, and from musician Sasha Ilyukevich who performed in our Dash Arts Dachas, some of which were covertly visited by the Russian Embassy.  Discovering how our mission to challenge the way we see the world is woven into our DNA, and how life and global politics have consistently broken down the walls into the theatre. With music from Sasha Ilyukevich & The Highly Skilled Migrants entitled KOLYA - КОЛЯ. Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi [https://www.maroufmajidi.com/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

From working with rappers in Beiruti basements to gathering musicians from all the conservatoires of ex-Soviet Republics in the mountains of Georgia and wild late nights in a tent with the Dash Arts Dacha, this episode celebrates the music and sounds woven through the last 20 years of Dash Arts. Josephine Burton acts as a guide across Dash Arts’ many musical projects, sharing stories and music from Dash’s multi-year seasons of artistic work. We hear about Dash’s journeys in the Arabic world, former Soviet States, Europe and its current season exploring Englishness, with Albion. This episode is an invitation to listen in on two decades of music that continues to challenge, delight, and change how we hear the world. In the podcast, we hear from: Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts  Marie Horner - Podcast Producer, Dash Arts We also hear from and celebrate these incredible artists: * Sto Let - Iva Bittová and Vladimír Václavek * My Show [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/lyrical-alliance] - Lyrical Alliance (Rabah Donquishoot (Algeria), Shadia Mansour (Palestine), Rayess Bek (Lebanon), Samm (Jordan), Tamer Nafar (Palestine) And DJ MK (UK))   * Shadia + Johnny Juice for Lyrical Alliance * Quata3et - Lyrical Alliance * Amy Kakoura at a Dash Cafe [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/eutopia-past-cafes] at Warwick Arts Centre - February 2020   * Maspindzeli Choir at a Dash Cafe [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/revolution17-cafes ] at Rich Mix, July 2014 * Hilda Lansman & Tuomas Norvio - Vizardit * Zugzwang - Langham Research Centre  * Olesya Zdorovetska at a Dash Cafe [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/revolution17-cafes] at Rich Mix, January 2017   * Song About a Friend - Vladimir Vysotsky * Iryna Muha at a Dash Cafe at Rich Mix, April 2017 * The Renegade Orchestra [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/rev17-productions ] (Evelina Petrova, Slava Guyvronsky, Matyakubov Shavkat, Misha Alperin, Reso Kiknadze, Zoltan Almashi, Natasha Pshenitschnikova, Vladimir Volkov, Kryukova Marina, Sergei Starostin and Petr Glavatskikh and composer Alexander Manotskov, playwright Natalia Vorozhbyt and director Galina Pyanova) * Sasha Ilyukevich and the Highly Skilled Migrants at the Dash Arts Dacha [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/rev17-residences ] at Latitude Festival July 2017 * One Hundred Moons from Dido’s Bar - (recorded by Samira Brahmia and Marouf Majidi with Hattie Naylor, Tuukka Leppänen, Riku Kantola and Josephine Burton). * The cast and house band of Dido’s Bar [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/didos-bar ] (Gemma Barnett, Priscille Grace, Tuukka Leppänen, Lola May, Lahcen Razzougui, Georgina White, Marouf Majidi, Ben Sutcliffe and the Dido’s Bar House Band)   * Songs for Babyn Yar [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/songs-for-babyn-yar ] - Music composed and arranged by Yuriy Gurzhy, Svetlana Kundish and Mariana Sadovska. * Ey, Güzel Qırım sung by the cast from Crimea 5am [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/crimea-5am ]. Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi [https://www.maroufmajidi.com/]  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

After 32 performances, more than 1,700 bowls of salad and a clutch of four and five star reviews; our 5 week opening run of The Reckoning [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/the-reckoning] has drawn to a close.  In this episode we wanted to share with you some of the incredible voices and stories who joined us at Arcola in Dalston in calling for justice for Ukraine. Written by Anastasiia Kosodii and Josephine Burton, and directed by Burton, The Reckoning is a vivid and powerful new play about war, survival and the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who must live with it. This is our last episode before we have a summer holiday so we’ll be back in September! In the podcast, we hear from: Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts  Marie Horner - Podcast Producer, Dash Arts Janine di Giovanni - Journalist and Executive Director of The Reckoning Project And reflections and performances recorded live at the Arcola Theatre Dr Olesya Khromeychuk - Writer and Director of Ukrainian Institute, London Peter Pomerantsev - Journalist, Author and Executive Editor at The Reckoning Project Tsvetelina van Benthem - Senior Legal Advisor at The Reckoning Project and Lecturer at Oxford University Viv Groskop - Author and Journalist Luke Harding - Journalist and Author Olia Hercules - Chef, Food Writer and Author Dr Yulia Ioffe - International Lawyer & Associate Professor of Humanitarian Law and Human Rights at University College London [https://www.dasharts.org.uk/events/th-reckoning-food-for-thought-guest-rory-finnin-k35nf-7mzbz-ln22p-fjmxz-8njf7-ky6f3] Nataliya Gumenyuk - Journalist and CEO of Public Interest Journalism Lab Tom Godwin - Actor, The Reckoning Marianne Oldham - Actor, The Reckoning  Olga Safronova - Actor, The Reckoning  Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi [https://www.maroufmajidi.com/]  Music from The Reckoning by Anton Baibakov [https://soundcloud.com/anton-baibakov]  We’d like to that the following supporters; The Reckoning Project, AHRC Impact Acceleration Account Award from the University of Cambridge, Public Interest Journalism Lab, Open Society Foundations, Nick Tranter in the name of 4Ukraine Humanitarian Aid, Fritt Ord Foundation, Goethe-Institut in Exile, Goethe-Institut London, SAV Group, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, The Golsoncott Foundation, and the many individuals who have made this possible. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

This month Dash’s brand new production, The Reckoning [https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/the-reckoning/], opens at The Arcola Theatre in Dalston. Co-Writer and Director Josephine Burton gives you a taste of what to expect from this vivid and powerful new play about war, survival and the fragile trust between those who uncover the truth and those who must live with it. Book your tickets for The Reckoning on the Arcola Theatre’s website [https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/the-reckoning/]. Based on real events within The Reckoning Project’s verified archive of witness testimonies of the Russian war in Ukraine, The Reckoning is playful and unsettling, blending storytelling with movement, music and cooking. As the performance ends, the conversation continues in Food for Thought. Audiences will be invited to hear reflections from expert speakers, journalists, lawyers, and those with lived experience of the conflict.  Written by Anastasiia Kosodii and Josephine Burton, and directed by Burton. In the podcast, we hear from: Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts  Tom Godwin - The Man from Stoyanka Marianne Oldham - The Journalist Olga Safronova - Olga / Echo  Simeon Kylsyi - Sam / Echo Marie Horner - Podcast Producer Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi [https://www.maroufmajidi.com/]  Music from The Reckoning by Anton Baibakov [https://soundcloud.com/anton-baibakov]  We’d like to that the following supporters; The Reckoning Project, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, AHRC Impact Acceleration Account Award from the University of Cambridge, Public Interest Journalism Lab, Open Society Foundations, Nick Tranter in the name of 4Ukraine Humanitarian Aid, Fritt Ord Foundation, Goethe-Institut in Exile, Goethe-Institut London, SAV Group, The Golsoncott Foundation, and the many individuals who have made this possible. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.