Encampment events: Calais refugee theatre company Good Chance come to London

Good Chance theatre creates 'temporary theatres of hope'. While the trend for taking performance beyond the confines of an auditorium is nothing new, this is much more than a pop up show.

British playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson set up their first temporary theatre in the middle of the Calais refugee camp in September 2015. The name 'Good Chance' comes from the snippets of hope overheard from the refugees assessing the likelihood of making it across the border as 'good' or 'no' chance.

With an array of workshops, performances, comedy, poetry and drama, the space has unified different nationalities and championed freedom of expression within the camp. And, more broadly, Good Chance introduced expanded the conversation about the global refugee crisis and the power of the arts. Caryl Churchill, Tom Stoppard and David Hare are among the many high profile creatives who have pledged support for project.

Now, Good Chance is spreading the hope and bringing a first hand perspective of life in the refugee camp to London for a series of Encampment events this summer, running simultaneously at Somerset House and the Southbank Centre from 30 July to 7 August.


Encampment at Somerset House

Immersive yourself in the memories and stories of different refugees in The Machine To Be Another. Combining storytelling, performance art and neurological science to challenge perceptions of identity, the experience uses virtual reality technology.

Users experience 'Embodied Narratives', which evoke the physical and emotional experiences of workers, refugees and volunteers from around the world. The experience is free, but needs to be booked in advance here.

Alongside this virtual reality experience, Good Chance and charity A Home For Winter will build an installation of empty shelters on Lancaster Place, by Somerset House. Vistors can explore around and within the rudimentary structures that people are forced to make their home. After it is dismantled, the installation will be taken to Calais to provide building materials for new structures.


Encampment at Southbank Centre

Just across the river, a temporary dome built by Good Chance will host a series discussions, readings, music and performance shedding light on the refugee crisis.

Of the extensive programme our highlight is award-winning actress Cush Jumbo (Julius Cesar, Donmar) performing White Rabbit Red Rabbit (7 August).

The extraordinary play is theatre as you've never seen it before. Gone are rehearsals, and creative teams. The play, given to its actor in a sealed envelope live on stage, has travelled borders and continents and been performed all around the world by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Juliet Stevenson. In stark contrast, its writer Nassim Soleimanpour is forbidden to leave his native Iran. White Rabbit Red Rabbit is free, but must be booked ahead here.