Following the success of our first two rounds of Make New Work commissions, we are delighted to announce the next three artists who will be part of the programme. Seemia Theatre, Akeim Toussaint Buck and Toi Guy will be creating new pieces of work responding to what’s on the mind of our local communities.
ARC received 80 applications in response to an open callout, and a panel made up of community members and ARC staff have chosen these three artists, one for the award £10,000 and two for awards of £2,000 each. All of the chosen artists will also receive rehearsal space, marketing, technical, producing and community engagement support from ARC as part of the package.
Seemia Theatre will be creating a new piece of work titled Let’s Love in response to the theme of Welcome. Seemia Theatre are an award-winning international ensemble led by Iranian Director Sara Amini. Seemia was originally established in 2012 by Artistic Director Sara Amini and performer Maryam Davari. In 2015, Seemia expanded with their current ensemble of artists from Iran, Argentina and the UK. Seemia’s devising style fuses Polish laboratory theatre practices, traditional British script-writing and Persian storytelling. They believe in theatre as a tool to break barriers and through socially-engaged devised performances they endeavour to bring communities together.
Seemia’s productions have been performed across the UK and Internationally with highlights such as Arcola Theatre, Kampala International Theatre Festival, and Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Their plays have been featured on BBC World Service, nominated for Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression Award and won Summerhall’s LUSTRUM Award. Seemia were a Barbican Open Lab 2022 company and are Oxford Playhouse EVOLVE 2024 Associate Artists. Seemia Theatre are really excited to be coming back to ARC Stockton, where in 2019 they had an R&D and scratch sharing of their show MARCUS.
Let’s Love will see three love stories weaving in between songs and movement, before the ensemble invite you to their collective wedding and share in the wedding feast. (Okay, a small bite…) Join them as they prepare for a beautiful celebration at the heart of Stockton as these love stories show the town’s strength in its diversity.
Let’s Love is a newly devised production from award-winning Seemia Theatre co-created with six incredible community members. From ancient Persian, Seemia translates as ‘Casting a spell with words’… join them for an evening of truly spellbinding new work.
Be sure to keep an eye out as we announce some exciting new opportunities and how you can get involved! We’ll be launching these in Spring 2025, so do keep in touch.
Akeim Toussaint Buck will be creating a new piece of work entitled Free in response to the theme of Change. Akeim Toussaint Buck is an interdisciplinary performer and maker, born in Jamaica and raised in England. Graduating from The Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2014, Akeim began creating his own work in 2015. His intention is to create moving, thought provoking, accessible and free-spirited projects. Exploring a variety of themes to challenge, enlighten and entertain audiences in a visceral way, calling on multiple art forms to weave a spectacle. Audiences are invited to not just observe, they are implicit in the experience. The work aims to reflect on reality, looking at ongoing socio-political issues, with a humanitarian intention.
The aesthetic of Toussaint’s work combines dance, creative writing, film, poetry, beat-box, singing and acting. Fused to tell stories capable of bridging the gaps between a variety of audiences. His movement is informed by methodologies of kick boxing, yoga, capoeira, Caribbean dance, hip hop and contemporary dance. His performances aspire to an orchestral musicality involving spoken word poetry, singing, and beatboxing. With improvisation and acute listening at the core of his practice of vocality and movement, which he calls Beatmotion, the artist embraces the holistic potential of dance to translate the affective dimension of socio-political realities.
Akeim’s recent achievements include: Irie Dance Theatre’s Artist in Residence for 2019-2020, becoming the Artist for Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Yorkshire Dance and Spin Arts’ Catapult 2019, and being awarded Arts Foundation Futures Award in Dance Theatre 2023. Akeim is Associate Artist at Deda Theatre in Derby and Geraldine Connor Foundation. Akeim’s work has been supported by Yorkshire Dance, Leeds Playhouse, Leeds Inspired, IRIE! Dance Theatre, Spin Arts, Serendipity, NSCD, Sadlers Wells and Arts Council England.
Free embarks on a powerful quest for a place of no limitations on people’s way of life and way of being. We sing: “take me to a place where I am free, leave the people dem so they can see.” A very simple and heartfelt demand that resonates through the ages. We dance as the Nyhabingi rhythms vibrate our bodies and we skank to the pulse of the one drop. Free combines the worlds of Reggae Dub Culture & Contemporary Dance to immerse audiences in the unwavering pursuit of freedom. This theatrical feat is one to remember, celebrating Reggae’s global injection that has ignited revolutions all over the world since the 1960s. With the ensemble of dancers accompanied by original new music written and produced in the Reggae Dub style. Held together by the storytelling nature of Toussaint To Move’s work, this will be a performance like no other. We invite you to join us and leave knowing what is yours can never be taken away, and none of us are free, until we are all Free.
Toi Guy will be creating Engines of Embers a new project in response to the theme of Anger. Toi Guy is a queer Geordie-Colombian artist working with movement, sound, video and fibres to create performances, experimental media and wearable items. Toi aims to soften into new worlds beyond patriarchal-imperialist-capitalist assumptions and silencing, through listening, sharing, radical openness to infinite perspective, queer ecology and quantum theory, honouring dreams and struggles. Toi’s performances and workshops create spaces of connection, empathy and mutuality through embodied explorations, somatic sensibilities, improvisation scores and deep listening.
Keep an eye on our website for updates about these and more Make New Work projects.