Come and be part of the creative process of Mabrouk
Did you know that Arabic is now the second most commonly spoken language in Brighton and Hove?
Did you know that on average across England 0.4% of the population speak Arabic, but in Brighton and Hove it’s 1%?
Brighton People’s Theatre wants to welcome people who speak Arabic and people with heritage from Arabic speaking countries into its theatre making community.
To do this we are inviting people with heritage from Arabic speaking countries to co-create a new show called ‘Mabrouk’.
We are going to run 12 workshops from February – April 2025 to support the writer, Suhayla El-Bushra, to write an original script for a new show.
We imagine that Mabrouk is the story of a large wedding taking place in a community centre over the course of one day. The finer details of the story will be determined through the workshops, but broadly speaking, it will explore themes of family, belonging and migration, and will celebrate cultural identity, traditions and heritage.
At the heart of the story are the parents of the bride, who have indebted themselves laying on this lavish event. Family are coming from abroad and hundreds from the surrounding communities have been invited. Tensions mount as pressure on this day to be perfect becomes too much – but the transformative power of a brilliant party wins out in the end.
The show will feature music and dance as well as food from the different community groups that take part, and will be an uplifting celebration of all that makes us human.
The idea for this show has been inspired by conversations we have had with people with Arabic speaking heritage across the city.
Workshops
Come and be part of the creative process. Workshops are on Thursdays between 27 February and 3 April 2025.
Each workshop will be repeated twice on the same day (either 12 – 2 pm or 6 – 8 pm) so that people with different caring and work responsibilities can hopefully come to one of the workshops.
All workshops will be held at Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AF. Food is provided at some of the workshops. Come and play.
About BPT
Brighton People’s Theatre is a company that brings people together to play, explore and be part of something bigger than themselves. We often work with people who have never done any theatre before, so if you are unsure about taking the first step, we encourage you to give it a go.
Our last show Born and Bread was performed as part of the Brighton Festival in 2024, and saw many people who had never performed onstage before, absolutely owning it. But there is no pressure to perform and you can just attend the workshops and be part of the creative process.