STORIES of how Rugby became home for migrants from around the world have inspired a new theatre production which premieres during the Rugby Festival of Culture.
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum has joined forces with the Highly Sprung Performance Company to create Journeys To Home – a physical theatre piece which explores the themes of family and roots.
The project was inspired by the Redding Collection, a collection of nearly 26,000 glass plates and cellulose acetate negatives taken by Rugby photographer George Redding between 1958 and 1972.
Redding captured Rugby and its residents on camera during a time of rapid social change, with the boom in the town’s engineering industry and railways attracting migrant workers from across the globe, particularly Asia and the West Indies.
The collection of photographs was gifted to Rugby Art Gallery and Museum when the Redding photographic studio in Church Street closed its doors – and has now inspired Journeys To Home.
Highly Sprung has worked with pupils from Northlands Primary School, Bilton School and the town’s Saturday Polish School to develop the piece.
The performance company has also interviewed members of Rugby’s West Indian Association and visitors to Age UK’s Claremont Centre to record memories of migration and perceptions of home.
Highly Sprung, together with school pupils involved in the project, will perform Journeys To Home in the town centre’s Market Place at 2pm on Sunday (July 2).
A giant tree structure provides the centrepiece for the free performance, illustrating the themes of putting down roots and family trees.
Following the performance, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum hosts activities inspired by the Redding Collection, including a 1960s photo booth where visitors can dress in period costume before having a portrait taken by a professional photographer.
Rugby Borough Council growth and investment spokeswoman Coun Heather Timms said: “George Redding’s extensive collection of photographs depict a town going through a period of social change, a change which saw Rugby become home for migrants from across the world during a boom period for industry.
“We’re delighted to have given this important historical record a permanent home at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, and the Journeys To Home project shows how the collection can educate and inspire a new generation of Rugbeians.”
The Journeys To Home project has received £12,700 funding from the National Lottery, distributed by Arts Council England via West Midlands Museum Development.
Journeys To Home forms part of Rugby Art Gallery and Museum’s programme of events and exhibitions for the Rugby Festival of Culture.
Visit www.ragm.co.uk for more information.
The Rugby Festival of Culture runs until July 16. Visit www.therugbytown.co.uk/festivalofculture for full details.
