What’s On

January – February 2024 | Unlocking Potential workshops. Commissioned work with South Bristol Youth, working with years 7 and 8 pupils from eight Bristol Schools on the theme of communication. Exploring communication styles and skills; career and future aspirations; supporting confidence building and self-esteem through drama games, reflection, sculpting activities, working with script and performing to their peers. Our workshops delivered were part of the wider Unlocking Potential programme.

January – April 2024 | Forum In Neighbourhoods workshops and performance. Exploring stories of a changing Bedminster, memories and reflections form long serving communities, newer communities, gentrification, poverty, challenges and community.

A series of 12 of twelve creative theatre workshops at Windmill Hill City Farm, Bedminster, with local residents on how they feel about where they live, things to celebrate, things they find difficult about their neighbourhood and what they’d like to change. Participants used this information to devise a play that offered the audience a chance to change the story together as we dream of a future we would like to see.  A project facilitated by Breathing Fire, Many Minds and funded by Bristol City Council’s Community Development Team.

January – February 2024 | Voices From The Edge performances.  An evaluation of research for a project with participants responding to British Museum artifacts and stolen legacies. A performance at Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth delivered by Breathing Fire and Golden Thread (based in Wales) to support participants to reflect on the emotional journey and the process of their learning while being part of this research and making their varying pieces of art. The two performances centred on their process, stories of loss, rejection and finding a place to belong.

February 2024 | Playback Theatre Masterclass. Following on from a successful workshop last year, we were invited to returned this year to the University of Bristol to facilitate a Playback Theatre Masterclass for 2nd year students on the Applied Theatre degree course to teach an introduction to Playback Theatre forms. It enabled them to gain an understating of community led theatre, and how theatre could be used for social change. It proved to be a valuable addition to the degree course for the cohort of students, all who were new to Playback theatre.

5- 9 February 2024 | Kiota Residency at Hawkwood. Members of Breathing Fire spent 5 days at Hawkwood House near Stroud on an Improvised Theatre Residency with Kiota Collective an organisation that puts the spotlight on performance artists of the global majority. We were fortunate to explore improvisation forms and techniques with performers and tutors Monica Gaga and Mandeep Singh supported by Aish Ali, Deepraj Singh. Coming out of our comfort zones we were pushed and challenged, able to learn, develop and share different approaches to performing improvised theatre. Breathing Fire was also able to lead a playback theatre workshop at the residency teaching some playback theatre forms.

February – May 2024 | Bristol Health Partners forum theatre performance. We were pleased to work with Bristol Health Partners to devise and deliver a bespoke Forum Theatre performance and reflection exploring best practice for health practitioners on issues relating to race and cultural awareness. Our interactive performance enabled the audience of health professionals to consider and practice a range of perspectives and ideas towards improving their practice around community engagement.

March – September 2024 | We Are Warriors workshops and installation.

March – June 2024 (extended to September 2024). Redcliffe Caves. Enter the Wonderground to an immersive sound and light installation in central Bristol. A return of the installation previously exhibited at Redcliffe Caves and the Arnolfini in 2018. A soundscape celebrating 100 years of women’s suffrage through the diverse voices of 130 women and girls. The Soundscape was developed in workshops run by Breathing Fire with diverse women and girls from various Bristol community groups and schools, produced and created by In Between Time, and commissioned by Bristol Women’s Voice.

2 March 2024 | International Women’s Day Celebration, Bristol City Hall. A fun, creative, interactive, informative workshop delivered in partnership with Bristol Health Partners – exploring women’s thoughts and ideas around what healthy weight means to them and how the related issues impact their lives ‘s. Promoting the participation / completion of an adult survey ‘Body Mass Index’ – that can be found on Your views on Body Mass Index Healthy Weight HIT

20 April 2024 | New Beginnings: Public performance, Horfield Quaker Meeting House. A sold out performance by Breathing Fire in collaboration with Rise and Fall Playback Theatre Company on the theme of New Beginnings.

Audience comments:

“Very touching, simple and complex; humanity at its best – thank you.”

“Really lovely and inspiring.”

“What wonderful creative individuals you all are.”

“Playback never fails to delight. So wonderful to see the expressions on the faces of the people, hearing heir stories back and the whole room enjoying them. Thank you.”

June 2024 | Wash House project. Working with writer and curator Ros Martin, Breathing Fire facilitated a community workshop leading to a performance later in the month. The project and our workshop responded to memories and artefacts that evoke the Washhouse world of our working class forebearers, and embraced the wisdom and experience held by elders that needed to be shared with younger generations. Click here for more information.

September 2024 | Rose Green Centre, African Caribbean Expo. An event focused on Sickle Cell for people of all ages and generations. An interactive workshop and performance where Breathing Fire collaborated with Black Women Let Loose Theatre Company to explore myths and facts about sickle cell. Breathing Fire provided a platform for attendees to share their stories about living with sickle cell and the impact on their loved ones.

Audience comments:

“Very impressive performance it encapsulated the theme of sickle cell and sent a very powerful message which was very moving.”

“Epic performance that kept me captivated through, varied and dramatic with a hard-hitting message.”

October 2024  | Ashfield Prison performance. A performance with the prison community sharing their stories about who and what inspires them, gives them hope and how they overcome life’s challenges. Their stories were played back by Breathing Fire.

26 November 2024 | AWP and NHS Anti-Racism event. A creative and reflective workshop commissioned by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP). We delivered a workshop as part pf their antiracism event for staff working in prisons and probation within the South West on the theme of ‘whiteness’ and intergenerational racialised trauma. Breathing Fire supported these themes by working with delegates in embodied reflection exploring identity, biases, antiracist practice, and commitment to transform their practice.

Nov / Dec 2024 | Unlocking Potential workshops. Commissioned work with South Bristol Youth and the University of Bristol, working with years 7 and 8 pupils from eight Bristol Schools on the theme of communication. Exploring communication styles and skills; career and future aspirations; supporting confidence building and self-esteem through drama games, reflection, sculpting activities, working with script and performing to their peers. Our workshops delivered were part of the wider Unlocking Potential programme.

June 2023 | University of Bristol Introduction to Playback Theatre Masterclass. What does compassion mean in today’s world? Sharing moments, memories and stories, with Rise and Fall Playback Theatre.   

June 2023 | Lyde Green Wildlife Theatre Performance.  A performance of community Stories from the audience about Nature connection, celebrating diversity and helping Wildlife.  

February 2023 | University of Bristol Introduction to Playback Theatre Masterclass.  Breathing Fire delivered an ‘Introduction to Playback Master class’ for second year drama students. Discussing the history of Playback, Playback as a vehicle for Social Change, and Breathing Fire’s origins. Teaching Playback warm up processes; Fluid Sculpts; Transitional Fluids; and One Minute Poetry through the theme of Social Change. 

January 2023 | Unlocking Potential 2023.  Commissioned by South Bristol Youth and held at the University of Bristol, Breathing Fire worked with cohorts of young people from six Bristol schools. Taking the themes of communication and future aspirations, we facilitated specific games, reflective activities and script-based work, in which every student was able to showcase how they had been motivated by, and had developed through the creative process. 

November 2022 | Breathing Fire delivered two public performances at the Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol as part of Kiota’s regular programme of events showcasing Black and People of Colour performers. The two shows were focused on the theme of Climate Justice. Audiences shared stories about their perspectives on Climate Justice through the prism of: a) Gratitude; b), What pains us; c) Seeing with new eyes; d) Going forward into the future. 

October 2022 | Playback in Prison (Performance).  Breathing Fire was able to re-establish its work in a local prison since lockdown. We gave a playback performance, on the theme of ‘The Past Two Years.’ Those present gave reflections on the past few years – covid, climate crisis, Black Lives Matter. Inmates shared touching stories about their experiences during and post lockdown. 

April and November 2022 | Over the Rainbow Playback Residencies. Breathing Fire was fortunate to be able to take part in two residencies for Playback Theatre practitioners held at Over the Rainbow in West Wales. The events were represented by four different Playback theatre companies. Both residencies explored the theme of climate justice. We were able to share and learn from each other including being able to share and practice unfamiliar playback forms while considering our perspectives on what Climate Justice specifically meant for us as individuals and as a collective. 

June 2022 | The Delight Collective working with Sudaqua Refugee Women’s Group.  Breathing Fire undertook a project with the Delight Collective to run playback sessions with Refugee women. We explored the theme of: ‘Our stories: what empowers, inspires, and energises us.’ The sessions supported refugee women to tell their stories about their journeys, and about their connections to home, whether here in the UK or the place of their birth. Working in groups, the women devised short pieces of moving theatre or song which they were able to perform to each other. 

March 2022 | International Women’s Day (Bristol Improv Theatre). Breathing Fire were pleased to be commissioned by Bristol Improv Theatre. Continuing our work with the Delight Collective to run a class for women as an introduction to Playback Theatre, through the theme of ‘Embracing your Power.’ Those who attended were able to practice some key Playback techniques and forms and honour each other’s experiences. 

March 2022 | International Women’s Day 2022: Bristol Women’s Voice. First time back at City Hall after a two year hiatus due to lockdown. Breathing Fire was really pleased to be running a workshop exploring how we are constrained by biases; and how we refuse to allow biases to define us. Through a series of drama games and creative expression, women developed short vignettes and friezes on the theme and were able to identify tools to challenge biases. All were eager to engage and were generous in their sharing. The session was uplifting and affirming for all who took part. 

February – May 2022 | Forum Theatre in Neighbourhoods. Picking up from where we left off in March 2020 Breathing Fire worked with two cohorts in two Bristol neighbourhoods, Juicy Blitz young people’s group, in Lawrence Weston and a Fit and Fab women’s group in Filwood. Breathing Fire and Many Minds facilitated a total of 24 workshops supporting the participants to consider, develop and create scenarios of their experiences of living in their area. Both groups travelled to each other’s areas to perform their work. The impact on participants and audience’s was very powerful. 

January – February 2022 | Unlocking Potential 2022. Commissioned by South Bristol Youth, Breathing Fire worked with cohorts of young people from seven Bristol schools. Taking the themes of communication and future aspirations. We facilitated specific games, reflective activities and script based work, in which every student was a able to showcase how they had been motivated by, and had developed through the creative process. 

WORKSHOPS DELIVERED

March 2020 | Working with Many Minds we ran a workshop for women in Filwood, South Bristol for International Women’s Day which enabled local women to explore perceptions and realities of their neighbourhood.

March 2020: | Breathing Fire delivered a workshop commissioned by Bristol Women’s Voice for International Women’s Day on the theme of ‘Celebrating the Female Body.’ Women were able to ‘let their hair down’ and share with each other their loathes, loves and likes about their bodies in a safe space that offered interactive games, voice and movement.

February – March 2020 | We were pleased to continue our collaboration with Many Minds mental health and performance charity. We are again running Forum Theatre workshop sessions for residents in two areas of the city. We are working with Bristol 600 in Knowle West and a group of their disabled service users, and in Lawrence Weston with Juicy Blitz running workshops for children and young people. The workshops enable participants to come together, discuss issues of relevance for them and their communities. The aim is to work with the residents to devise scenarios and create two interactive performances.

January – February 2020 | We were commissioned by the Bristol Old Vic to deliver workshops with year seven cohorts in six Bristol schools: Colston Girls, Bristol Brunel Academy, Bristol Met, Merchants’ Academy, City Academy, and Cotham. The workshops were based on the Zong slave ship massacre, incorporating topical issues and encouraging the students to explore areas of civic action they could engage in and to consider what they would want to achieve as their individual lasting legacies.

Below is a reflection of comments from the students’ evaluation forms following the workshops.

• “I feel like I may be able to change things in life.”
• “Because I now want to do some more research on the Zong (slave ship massacre) and have more information.”
• “I want to change the world and create a lasting effect / encouraging me to change the world.”
• “To be more aware of racism / slavery.”
• “It gives me a different mindset.”
• “I know that I can change something which is going to help the world.”
• “When we wrote one thing to stop (in the world). There are so many more issues we need to stop.”
• “Learning about the boy (Olaudah Equiano) who made a difference.”
• “It tells me that I can actually change something to make the world a better place.”

December 2019 | Using the forum theatre format we worked with local residents in Central and South Bristol to present two performances called Rise Up exploring the perceptions and realities of their neighbourhoods. The performances incorporated a range of themes including: youth stereotyping, peer pressure, family breakdown, rejection and bullying. For more information and video and Also

March 2019 | We were pleased to collaborate with Rise and Fall playback theatre company in a a commission by Bristol Women’s Voice for their International Women’s Day event on the theme of the Cycles of Life’ – the menopause, period and life changes. The performed gave women the opportunity to talk about the impact of change in their lives as they experience women’s cycles and new stages of being.

WORKSHOPS DELIVERED

September – December 2019 | Working with Many Minds we ran sessions for residents in central and south Bristol. This work was commissioned by Bristol City Council and entailed a series of 12 workshops in each of two neighbourhoods for young people and adults. The workshops enabled people to come together, discuss issues of relevance for them and their communities. We then worked with the residents to devise scenarios and create two interactive performances. Many of those who took part in the workshops had never performed before. Working with the Many Minds team we were pleased support attendees with the skills and confidence to explore deep and complex issues. This lead to their delivering performances emerging from the workshops. The final performances generated interactive, open and honest debate for audiences and service providers. Themes included: youth stereotyping, peer pressure, family breakdown, rejection and bullying.

August 2019 | Working with a cohort of people and theatre practitioners Breathing Fire delivered a session at the Bristol Old Vic on the theme of ‘communication’ using games and providing an introduction to Playback techniques.

August 2019 | Using forum theatre techniques we undertook a pilot workshop for teenage boys working with them to explore their views on Brexit. The workshop was filmed by the BBC, which was keen to gather the opinions of diverse young voices and how they felt Brexit might affect their lives. Following on from the workshop, the young men who participated signed up to attend our community workshop sessions in the autumn that led to their devising a performance about their lives.

July 2019 | Commissioned by the Arnolfini Bristol, Breathing Fire delivered a workshop titled Carnival Stories focusing on an exhibition by artist Martin Parr that depicted photographic images of St Paul’s Carnival. The workshop provided opportunities for families to develop ideas for storytelling around the theme of carnival and to share the stories they devised.

June 2019 | Commissioned by Triodos Bank Breathing Fire worked with the bank’s senior management team enabling managers to explore the issues of diversity in their team to assist their future planning for increasing diversity in their organisation. The workshop comprised of creative team building techniques and activities.

May 2019 | We were pleased to collaborate throughout the year with Many Minds mental health and performance charity. Our practical collaborative sessions commenced with a workshop for Bristol City Council community development team introducing staff members to forum theatre techniques and how to facilitate difficult conversations.

TRAINING ATTENDED

November 2019 | Provided by Closer Each Day we were able to practice how to create and build on scenes for improvisation, and to gain skills using tools for making powerful, engaging soap operas and dramatic performances.

September 2019 | The Breathing Fire team attended the annual playback theatre gathering at Over the Rainbow in West Wales with four playback theatre companies. We were able to take part in, and lead sessions, allowing us to share and learn playback forms, how we deliver playback forms and how we support audiences and their interaction.

July 2019 | The Breathing Fire team was pleased to attend a session lead by Cardboard Citizens that covered forum theatre techniques. It enabled us to continue the development of our practice in: setting up and establishing a scene, working with character and conflict, shifting from conflict to resolution.

INSTALLATIONS

October 2019 | ‘We Are Warriors’ Breathing Fire developed this work through a series of workshops with women and girls in different communities and settings in 2018 with In Between Time. The workshops encouraged women and girls to use their voices and bodies to express sounds about what it was to be a woman / girl. A light and sound installation recognising 100 years of Women’s suffrage was produced at the time and showcased at the Arnolfini. It was revised and installed in October 2019 at Redcliffe Caves, Bristol. See the video: We Are Warriors

December 2018 | Five members of Breathing Fire took part in Tina Gue’s ‘This Is Us’ portrait exhibition showcasing images of 150 older women in the South West to mark the centenary year of (some) Women’s Suffrage. The exhibition featured in central Bristol in the lead up to International Women’s Day received great acclaim for the range and depth of the portraits and in its celebration of older women.

November | Six members of the group were fortunate to go out to Martinique in the Caribbean for an opportunity to extend our learning. We benefitted from a series of dance master classes that included drumming and performance skill. We returned refreshed to embed this learning into our playback performances. We gave two performances while in Martinique which were successfully received by audiences that had never seen playback before. We valued the trust audiences had in us to share some poignant stories and we feel privileged that we were able to honour them. We were also honoured to be invited by Josiane Antourel international dance artist to a private rehearsal of her dance performance prior to her devised show.

October/November 2018 | We Are Warriors with Inbetween Times – A sound and light installation created by Helen Cole.

Amid our hectic ‘Windrush’ tour of performances and gigs we delivered around the country throughout Black History Month, members of Breathing Fire undertook training in Digital Technology learning new techniques to improve storytelling and how this could enhance our craft. This was a form of training we had not previously received and we are now considering how we develop it further to bring another exciting layer to deepen our performances and creativity.

30 Oct 2018 | Windrush’ Workshop and performance, Leeds, and also a workshop and performance at STUN@ Z-Arts in Manchester.

31 Oct 2018 | Windrush’ Workshop and performances in Kirklees and Calderdale.

25 Oct 2018 | Windrush’ Workshops and performances, Huddersfield and Bradford.

22 Oct 2018 | Windrush’ Workshop and performance, Falmouth University, Cornwall.

13 & 14 Oct 2018 | Performance for Black History Month, Peckham, London, and Ashfield Prison, Bristol.

7 Oct 2018 | Performance Black Women 100 event. Recognising black women’s contribution to the suffrage movement. Arnolfini, Bristol.

4 Oct 2018 | Poetry performances in collaboration with UWE and Bristol black poets, Bristol.

1 Oct 2018 | Windrush’ Workshop and performance for Malcolm X Elders at the Malcom X Centre, Bristol and Bath Black Elders at Haile Selassie House, Bath.

28 July 2018 | Afrakan Storytelling Festival, Bears Wood Camp, Croydon. Breathing Fire was scheduled to deliver a workshop at this event: African Storytelling Festival.

22 July 2018 | Being Romeo and Juliet, with South West Dance Theatre, at Trinity Centre, Bristol. Playback meets dance theatre – love, hate, fear, hope, duty, desire….The Trinity Centre, Bristol 

June 2018 | We delivered a series of performances in the South West focused on refugee and asylum seeking communities in support of Refugee Week.

May-June 2018 | Members of Breathing Fire have been conducting research on trauma in relation to the experiences of migrant communities. Findings from our individual research will be used to inform our interactions with audiences and the creativity expressed in our up and coming performances.

REFUGEE WEEK PERFORMANCES 

23 June 2018 | St Paul’s Learning Centre, Bristol

22 June 2018 | Chard Library

20 June 2018 | Exeter Thursday 21 June, Full Circle, Bristol Thursday 21 June, Quakers Meeting House, Horfield, Bristol

19 June 2018 | Malcolm X Centre, Bristol Tuesday 19 June, City of Sanctuary, Swindon

17 June 2018 | Plymouth

7 June 2018 | Quakers, Meeting House, Horfield, Bristol

7 June 2018 | Black Artist on the Move Presented Ecletic on Thursday 7 June at The Quaker Meeting House, in collaboration with @ Bristol Refugee Festival. Breathing Fire Theatre Company performed “The Place I Belong”, a show celebrating the resilience and strength of Bristol’s refugee and asylum seeking Communties.

12 May 2018 | Workshop Drama workshop with children and young people from Imayla at the Pinkery Centre for Outdoor Learning, Exmoor.

13 May 2018| Performance ‘Faith in Everyday Life’, The Hub, Hopcott Road, Minehead, Somerset.

17 March 2018| Sistas in the Spotlight! The Malcolm X Centre, Breathing Fire and Tan Teddy – Jamaican Folk Culture Group, host a showcase of female performance artists. Spoken word, song, theatre, music and dance! Celebrating International Women’s Day and recognising 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage in the UK. Market stalls; food and drink available for purchase; prize draw for ticket holders on the night.

13 March 2018| BSN (Bristol Survivors Network – Campaigning to Improve Mental Health Services), Bristol, UK. AGM at Unitarian Chapel, Brunswick Square. Breathing Fire performance from 3 pm. Service Users and Carers are warmly invited to ‘Mental Health interACTions’. All welcome to watch and take part, or put topics up for discussion. A lively and stimulating afternoon.

3 March 2018| International Women’s Day celebration drama workshop for Bristol Women’s Voice at Bristol City Hall.

15 – 25 Febraury 2018| An Arts Council funded Washington DC tour in partnership with Playback Theatre sistah company Hissing Black Cat. We partnered with our Washington DC based sister company, Hissing Black Cat to deliver four playback performances and were pleased to have made links with a High School and a women’s writing group to deliver two additional performances.

We performed again with our sisters in Hissing Black Cat on our reciprocal visit following on from their joining us on our UK tour in 2016. February was Black History Month in the USA and we benefitted from our interactions with communities and people especially around the way Black History Month is celebrated and acknowledged in America. We performed in a range of settings to different community groups. We aimed to honour our audiences with their stories on issues, experiences and moments that are most relevant to them and their cultural perspectives.

We were keen to further develop our own skills, knowledge and experience and to widen our repertoire by taking the opportunity to learn and grow from the range of stories shared and themes explored during our performances, workshops and practices, and through our training with Hissing Black Cat. Check out our journey in more detail here!

9 December | NIGERIAN WEST INDIAN (UK GROUP) Annual Family Celebration Day performance, The Cornerstone Centre, London.

7 December | Arts Council funded tour performance, Chard Library, Somerset.

28 October | Arts Council funded BHM Tour: Toxteth Library, Liverpool. Our connections; family relationships and other aspects of our lives that binds us to others.

27 October | Arts Council funded BHM Tour: Chard Library, Somerset. What does home mean? Reflecting on journeys taken to adapt to new lives and exploring concepts of home.

27 October | Arts Council funded BHM Tour: Manchester Z-arts. Why understanding our history is important and the importance of speaking up and speaking out to address inequality and injustice.

14 October | We celebrated Black History Month, with the theme ‘Connecting with our Ancestors’ at The Quakers Meeting Hall in Horfield, Bristol. Proceeds raised from our event were donated to families affected by the recent mudslide and floods in Sierra Leone.

20 August | Arts Council funded BHM Tour: Commissioned performance, HMP Eastwood Park,‘My Favourite Things’ Reflecting on what motivates and inspires us; instigating and appreciating new opportunities.

July | Our summer public performance was at The Kuumba Community Centre. The theme was “What’s Going On?”

March | We were part of the Celebration of African Culture taking place at Spike Island supported by Spike Island, the University of the West of England and Ujima Radio. We were proud to be performing in the line up with a host of artists.

March | Breathing Fire pro bono workshop for Bristol Women’s Voice, International Women’s Day event, Bristol. Theme: ‘Take Up Space.’

February | Workshop and performance for Bath Black Elders at Fairfield House, Bath, former home of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Arts Council England funded (as part of Breathing Fire’s English Cities Arts Council funded tour October 2016 – March 2017). Theme: ‘My World, Our World.’

We have also been featured on the Students’ Union website where we took part in a poetry slam!

November | Performance commissioned by Womankind 30th Anniversary event, Bristol.
Theme: Celebration of 30 years of Womankind.

October 2016 – March 2017 | English Cities Tour funded by Arts Council England, so far nine out of ten gigs completed, covering: Nottingham, London, Manchester, Sheffield, Hull, Huddersfield, Derby, Bath.

October | Performance commissioned by Ashfield Prison, South Gloucestershire. Theme: ‘Those in black history who have inspired us.’

October | Workshop and performance commissioned by the drama department, University of the West of England, Bristol. Theme: Celebrating Black History: ‘How our connections shape our place in the world.’

October | Public performance for Black History Month. Theme: ‘Moments of our Lives’ focused on reclaiming our history – taking and stand, and bringing others with us. Performed with guest artists Hissing Black Cat from Washington DC, USA. £150 was sent to Doctors Without Borders. For more about what they do please click here.