Six years post arriving in the UK to seek a safer environment to live as a result of rising protests in his native Sudan, performer Mohand Hasb Alrosol Abdalrah generously offers his own experiences of not being able to return to his homeland, a story that I’m sure many who have migrated can relate to. Alongside fellow PSYCHEdelight theatre member Peter Pearson, Mohand & Peter fuses clowning, physical theatre and improvisation to craft 70mins of nostalgia, yet also looks towards the future.
Having created a much needed space for the first hand experiences of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers within the UK to be heard, PSYCHEdelight have presented a series of crucial works placing these stories centre stage. Currently presenting Mohand and Peter, drawing on company member Mohand Hasb Alrosol Abdalrahem’s real life experience of leaving his native Sudan to seek asylum, the devised piece, created by fellow company member Peter Pearson and artistic director Sophie Bertrand Besse blends clowning and visual poetry to explore explore cultural identity and the traumatic effect of long-term exile as well as celebrating refugee home countries. Ahead of the production, showing at the Southwark Playhouse from the 9th March until 9th April, Mohand and Peter tell us more about exploring this pertinent story, what it means to have a platform such as PSYCHEdelight to tell these stories and how the team have approached creating the show.