Award-winning and internationally acclaimed physical theatre company Gecko embark on a national tour of their brand new production Kin.
The tour culminates in a run at the National Theatre in January 2024 – a landmark moment for this important company. Kin is inspired by the epic journey from Yemen to Palestine that Artistic Director Amit Lahav’s grandmother Leah and her family took to escape persecution. Ninety years later, her grandson reflects on the life- changing decision his family made to flee and build a better life. Featuring Gecko’s signature physical, visual, visceral and ambitious performance, this production presents a provocative story of desperation and compassion.
Amit Lahav, Gecko’s Artistic Director, said, Every production that I create starts with a personal reflection combined with a current wider societal issue. In 2017, I visited my grandmother in Israel where we talked about her journey from Yemen to Palestine to escape persecution, as well as my family’s history more broadly. Kin was ultimately inspired by the desire to delve deeper into the complex mix of migration stories that make up who I am. Migration is a facet of human existence – we all have migration stories whether we’re aware of them or whether they’re more distant, and that excites me because we have the potential to encourage a profoundly positive, celebratory voyage towards empathy. We exist both where we’ve come from and where we’re going; this is what I wanted to explore through the creation of Kin.
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre added, I’ve been following Gecko’s work for a number of years and have a growing admiration for their dynamic and fearless approach to story in motion. Allied to this their commitment to internationalism, with completely integrated educational work, as well as their deeply embedded UK wide touring ethos, is hugely impressiveTheir presence at the National Theatre is overdue, and we look forward very much to them being with us.
Commissioned by the National Theatre, Gecko will perform Kin at Storyhouse Chester, CAST Doncaster, Oxford Playhouse, Nottingham Playhouse and Brighton Dome this autumn before their run at the National’s Lyttleton Theatre from 12 – 27 January 2024. Alongside the show’s run, Gecko will be facilitating workshops and wraparound activities at each tour stop, giving local refugee and migrant communities the opportunity to engage with Gecko’s work and experience this striking production.
