Our East Storytelling Project is back this summer, and we are thrilled to announce that we are growing our project thanks to a new partnership with Camden Peoples Theatre and funding from Arts Council England.
After marking ten years at Rich Mix in 2023 as part of A Season of Bangla Drama festival, we imagined what our storytelling project might look like outside of Tower Hamlets. Whilst the project began in the East End we have always had storytellers and audiences who have connected with us from across London and especially following the launch of our East Archive, this is a project that connects people across the globe. Stories of migration are at the heart of the project, so it makes sense that we, too, would migrate!
Last year we were successful for the Mayor’s Tower Hamlets Small Grants Programme, where we piloted East to Elsewhere by responding to the A Season of Bangla Drama 2025 festival theme of kindness.
Given the increased threat of racism, fascism, antisemitism, islamophobia and anti-migrant rhetoric in media and on our streets, particularly since the hostile environment initiative in 2012, we felt the invitation to consider kindness from a migrant’s perspective in the melting pot of East London was an urgent one. Whitechapel, particularly, is often a target for the likes of far-right demagogues such as Tommy Robinson. Whitechapel came under threat in 2025, and the communities here showed up! But the message of kindness to migrants is needed across London.
This new project, therefore, is focused on forging new relationships outside of Tower Hamlets. Our main partner this year is Camden People’s Theatre, where we have previously presented A Place at the Table and Queer Revolutionary Singalong. We are excited to be programmed alongside Camdenwalla, a new production speaking to the Bengali community in Camden. We will be doing a call out for a Camden based storyteller and commissioning a creative research project as part of this funding to spotlight this community.
We will also be delivering free storytelling workshops in Camden, Newham and Havering with new and existing partners, and developing our online reach with six new artist spotlights and six new videos for the East Archive.
Our work continues in Tower Hamlets, where we will be delivering a free performance to schools at Brady Arts Centre and more community consultation with queer and migrant communities. We will also deliver another East Music workshop after a successful pilot series in 2024 with Poplar Union.
Do consider supporting the East Storytelling Project by donating:
Follow us on socials and subscribe to our newsletter for the Daedalus latest.
