How can the arts help us to encounter others?

In December 2024, we were part of a fantastic live discussion at the RSA (Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) discussing how the arts can unlock unheard voices. This podcast brings you some highlights from the event with some extra insights and updates from our Dash Arts Artistic Director Josephine Burton.

Hosted by Tom Stratton (Chief of Staff at RSA), our Artistic Director and Chief Executive Josephine Burton was joined on stage by Alan Finlayson (Professor of Political & Social Theory, University of East Anglia), Alecky Blythe (Playwright), and Dawid Konotey-Ahulu (co-founder of Redington, Mallowstreet, and 10,000 Interns). Sue Agyakwa whom we met in a speech-making workshop in Newham earlier in 2024, also, kindly, shared her speech live.

Josephine and Alan shared what they've learnt from their 18 month long speech making workshop programme across the country that will culminate in Dash Arts’ 'state of the nation' theatre production, Our Public House, in 2026.

Our Public House is funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, The Thistle Trust, Three Monkies Trust, and individual giving.

You can watch the full event by visiting the RSA’s website or their YouTube Channel.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“All good art is an attempt to wrestle with truth”

In the fourth episode on the journey towards our production, The Reckoning, Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton is in conversation with Author and Playwright Gillian Slovo discussing the power of theatre and the responsibilities involved in bringing real people’s stories to the stage. As Dash Arts prepares to produce a theatre production rooted in the testimonies of survivors of the war in Ukraine, Josephine searches for insights into how to create powerful drama whilst doing justice to the people who have lent their stories. Gillian shares her experiences of listening to the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 and looking after their words as she crafted the verbatim drama, Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors for the National Theatre.

Support this year’s Big Give: Help Bring The Reckoning to Life and Double Your Impact!

Help Dash Arts bring Reckoning to life, a powerful documentary-style production based on Ukrainian testimonies. Premiering in 2025 and marking three years of war, Reckoning will spark vital conversations on the impact of war and possibility of restorative justice. Your donation will be doubled during the Big Give Christmas Challenge which is live from Tuesday 3 to Tuesday 10 December. Please help us reach our £5,000 goal!

Follow this link for more information and to donate from 3 December Reckoning - a new, groundbreaking work of theatre

If you haven’t already, you can hear the other episodes of this podcast mini-series on The Reckoning where we explore our process towards production, speaking to author and journalist Peter Pomerantsev on why he shared the testimonies with Dash as well as hear from Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge.

In the podcast, we hear from:

Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts

Gillian Slovo - Author and Playwright

Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi

Thank you to Jonathan Levy and Gabrielle Rifkind for hosting our live conversation.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the third episode on the journey towards our production, The Reckoning, Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton is in conversation with Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Interspersed by some short performances from the developing script, the two discuss the creative process behind the making of the production, rooted in testimonies taken from survivors from the Russian war in Ukraine.

Support this year’s Big Give: Help Bring Reckoning to Life and Double Your Impact!

Help Dash Arts bring The Reckoning to life, a powerful documentary-style production based on Ukrainian testimonies. Premiering in 2025 and marking three years of war, The Reckoning will spark vital conversations on the impact of war and possibility of restorative justice. Your donation will be doubled during the Big Give Christmas Challenge which is live from Tuesday 3 to Tuesday 10 December. Please help us reach our £5,000 goal!

Follow this link for more information and to donate from 3 December The Reckoning - a new, groundbreaking work of theatre

If you haven’t already, you can hear episodes one and two from this podcast mini-series on The Reckoning where we explore the beginnings of the piece and later speak to author and journalist Peter Pomerantsev on why he shared the testimonies with Dash.

Thank you to our partners and funders Cambridge Festival, Cambridge Junction, the Ukrainian Studies Department at the University of Cambridge, Open Society Foundations, the Fritt Ord Foundation, Goethe-Institut in Exile, Goethe-Institut in London and individual giving.

In the podcast, we hear from:

Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts

Rory Finnin - Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge

Sam Kyslyi - Performer

Mark Quartley - Performer

Underscore and sound design by Anton Baibakov

Our intro music is Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.