THE LAST UTOPIAN
Hope Street Ltd LIVERPOOL
Set in a time when Liverpool had become an increasingly militarised, paranoid and isolated society, an underground resistance movement was already taking place and anybody who wanted to survive and give the future of humanity a chance for freedom had no choice but to join it. Who would become The Last Utopian? All would become clear, in time.
Upon registration you will enter a dystopian world on a secret mission. City-wide science fiction immersive live action game.
Writer: Devised with company
Director: Adam McGuigan
Design Lead: Olivia du Monceau
Musical Direction Lead: Luke Moore
FLOAT
NEW YORK THEATER, UNICEF NYC, IRELAND, UK, ZIMBABWE TOUR
Down in the depths of the Zambezi River an ancient spirit stirs. This watery adventure was a fusion of comedy, song, dance and acrobatics. Inspired by Frederick Durenmatts’ ‘The Visit’ and the folklore surrounding the building of the Kariba Damn. The piece toured festival and venues in New York, London, Dublin, Manchester and many more before having its Zambian premiere at the Barefeet Festival.
Writer: Adam McGuigan
Director: Adam McGuigan
Designer: Richard Chombu
Choreography: Barefeet Theatre
US tour Coordinator: Brooke Ciardelli
CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?
BAREFEET THEATRE, ZAMBIA
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Experience in project creation, consulting and project delivery with partners including: Irish Aid, UNICEF, UNHCR, the EU, USAID (through PCI Zambia), British Council, HIVOS and the Zambian Government.
I have coordinated or contributed to over 30 Development projects in sub Saharan Africa. The examples below give a flavour of some of these projects.
The C Factor
Wake The Beast/ Macmillen and The Whittington Hospital
WINNER OF 2019 MACMILLAN 'INNOVATION AWARD'.
A new creative group approach for people going through cancer. Addressing its emotional impact through storytelling, discussion and laughter.
Wake The Beast worked with the Whittington Hospital Psychology team and Macmillan to create a series of 8 sessions addressing 4 main topics related to cancer treatment.
Adam had conversations with several people who had undergone treatment (or were still in treatment) at the Whittington hospital. The participants allowed their experiences to be used as part of 'Ricky's' story. A fictional character was created to protect people's identity's and allow for an amalgamation of several people's experiences to be presented. All Ricky's story is verbatim, taken directly from the interviews with patients.
Follows the 'story' of Ricky and his cat Whitt through Ricky's cancer diagnosis and treatment. Ricky's story helps participants explore challenges experiences in a way that's; Non-intrusive, Fun and creative, reflective.
Psychological support for people who may not choose one to one therapy. Psychological approaches, tools and techniques, support in a creative and energising/ uplifting context.
Barefeet Theatre
Zambia 2006-Present
In 2006 I co-founded a Non Governmental Organisation and theatre company in Lusaka Zambia. Barefeet is a performance based organisation that works with over 2000 young people each week in a variety of artistic disciplines, assisting in the withdrawal of young people from living on Zambia’s streets. Through our activities we have been instrumental in providing a voice for young people who have found themselves on the streets, and through Barefeet many young people have gained the confidence to move to a safer environment. Through running the organisation I managed a staff of 30+ overseeing all activities, budgets, strategy, partnerships, HR, fundraising, communications, monitoring and evaluation as well as report/ proposal writing, creating our programme of activities and steering our artistic collaborations. Barefeet have toured extensively to festivals in the USA, Ireland, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Poland and the U.K.
Eagles, Snakes and Stars
BAREFEET THEATRE/ EGPAF, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA
Working with Elizabeth Glazier Paediatric Aids Foundation (EGPAF) we created and delivered a series of six performance stories and six follow up workshops in clinics and children’s support groups for children living with HIV across six sites in Lusaka.
Using the central characters of Sunny and Gift we explored themes, highlighted as being common challenges, include; low morale of the children by being stigmatised for taking their medication, always being at the clinic when their friends are playing or always being sick. Other issues may include the reluctance of children to take their medication or not eating well.
The second stage of the project used the characters and scenarios as topics that were explored and investigated in the children’s support groups that are ongoing throughout the clinics.
UNCLE JOHN & AUNTY PRECIOUS
Barefeet 2007- 2016
Uncle John/ Aunty Precious has never left their village far in the North of Zambia. One night the chief has a vision, some of her subjects in Lusaka are in trouble and she needs to send Uncle John/ Aunty Precious to help them. So begins a terrifying journey of self-discovery as Uncle John/ Aunty Precious arrives in Lusaka where everything is modern and unknown. Participants have to support Uncle John/ Aunty Precious navigate this ‘new world’, along the way they meet children living on the streets and the family behind two of the children. Over 10 interactive storytelling sessions we follow the twists and turns of Uncle John/ Aunty Precious’ journey as they battle to support the family along the way learning the reasons why children may be on the streets and the pathways they can take to prevent that outcome.
Uncle John/ Aunty Precious has been running since 2009- with an initial pilot ‘Bwacha Twangale’ with Grassroot Soccer supported by PCI. In its first year 1539 children graduated from this street prevention programme in high drift (to the street) communities. The programme was adapted several times to work with children already on the streets through Barefeet’s residential camps. Beautifully demonstrating the power of storytelling and creative participation in supporting young people to make positive life choices.
SUPERBABY
Barefeet and UNICEF
This interactive comic fantasy, explored the benefits of early childhood stimulation.Through this fun and engaging interactive performance mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles grandmothers, grandfathers and big brothers and sisters where invited to share their ideas on stimulating cognitive, social, emotional, language/communication and motor skills development. Barefeet then shared the secret ingredients of how to create a super hero (this is a tongue on cheek way of delivering important information to assist with early childhood development). Toured 15 rural communities in Easter Province, Zambia 2015.
