Now Is the Time to Say Nothing
One of the stand-out shows at Mayfest 2018, Now is the Time to Say Nothing, toured the UK in 2019. Venues have included The Young Vic, Bristol Old Vic, Victoria & Albert Museum, Galway International Festival, Heads Up Festival Hull, The Old Courts Wigan and Strike a Light Gloucester.
“If the essence of theatre is an invitation to imagine that we are someone else and for a moment to see the world through their eyes, then this is truly theatre at its most essential.
“It’s just over three hours since I’ve seen it, and I’d be surprised if in 3 years I’ve fully understood what it’s done to me.
Now Is the Time to Say Nothing is a large scale instruction-based video and sound installation made in collaboration with Young Vic’s Taking Part and Syrian film-maker Reem Karssli. Using rare on the ground footage it follows the real story of Syrian artist Reem Karssli as she captures her daily experience of the Syrian conflict on camera. We see what emerges when she is contacted by a group of teenagers from the UK who want to see beyond the footage they’ve watched on their TVs.
Together they co-author an experience which attempts to connect a UK audience to the human story behind the news. Created over four years, we eventually follow Reem, like so many others, in her perilous journey across the Mediterranean to follow a promise of safety.
‘If you are thinking about someone and they don’t know it, do you think it still matters?’
Now Is The Time To Say Nothing is an intimate exploration of what it means to stay connected to each other and of what happens when war and the need for survival gets in the way.
A collaboration between Syrian film-maker Reem Karssli, a group of young Londoners, and artist Caroline Williams. Video design by May Abdalla and Christina Hardinge. Sound design by Lewis Gibson, Keir Vine and Tom Parkinson. Originally produced by Young Vic’s Taking Part.
Enquiries for programming contact kate@mayk.org.uk
