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2022

My Thousand Year Old Land (A Song for BiH)

Written by Bosnian war survivor Aida Haughton MBE and New Vic Borderlines Director Sue Moffat, the play, performed on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 July at the New Vic, was based on survivor testimonies from the genocide and war crimes that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Three female actors stand in a row holding a hat, some shoes, and a belt respectively, and look into the distance.
Cast members Christina Bain, Katarina Kristic and Stasha Dukic in New Vic Borderlines’ My Thousand Year Old Land. Credit: Andrew Billington.

My Thousand Year Old Land (A Song for BiH) brought the beauty, music and culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina to audiences, telling a story of the search for truth, justice and hope through three generations of women. The testimonies were complemented by traditional folk songs and poetry which examined what it means to have roots, and to feel the connections between land and people.

To complement the production, Borderlines hosted a ‘Seeds of Peace’ Conference on Tuesday 12 July at the theatre exploring concepts of peace, how to create it, and the role that hope plays in building peaceful futures.

Three female actors sit around, and on, a table covered in a lace tablecloth, examining the contents of their coffee cups.
Cast members Christina Bain, Katarina Kristic and Stasha Dukic in New Vic Borderlines’ My Thousand Year Old Land. Credit: Andrew Billington.

Stealing Dreams

In partnership with Knife Angel and Stoke-on-Trent City Council, New Vic Borderlines created a 45-minute documentary drama after collecting ‘vox pops’ from people across the city about their views on knife crime in the spring. A series of ‘CSI’-style workshops with young people acting as witnesses and investigators, giving them an opportunity to rewind the ‘incident’ and prevent it, were also held in October and November, before a Youth Conference on 16 November to coincide with Staffordshire Police’s Ditch the Blade week. The Stealing Dreams project reached over 4,000 young people in the local area.

A group of young people dressed in tracksuits laugh together on a playground, in a production image from New Vic Borderlines' Stealing Dreams. Credit Andrew Billington
A group of young people dressed in tracksuits laugh together on a playground, in a production image from New Vic Borderlines’ Stealing Dreams. Credit Andrew Billington

Happy and Glorious

In celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign during her Platinum Jubilee year, Happy and Glorious, a series of projects themed around peace, belonging, community and what it means to be a model citizen took place thanks to funding from the Platinum Jubilee Fund. This project engaged over 2,000 local people including six community groups and 250 primary school children.

You can read more about it here.

Borderlines' Young People's Theatre Company create a drama piece in the New Vic Studio as part of the Happy and Glorious project.
Borderlines’ Young People’s Theatre Company create a drama piece in the New Vic Studio as part of the Happy and Glorious project.