A Seat At Our Table
Maison Foo invite you to take
A Seat At Our Table.
a multisensory theatrical dining room experience that challenges old thinking patterns and creates a new narrative for People Seeking Sanctuary in the UK.
Us Foos were really excited to bring our Table to Derby Theatre for Departure Lounge July 2023 ❤️
A Seat At Our Table was originally commissioned in 2022 through Derby CAN (Arts Council England Producing HUB) in partnership with Derby Museums and Oddfellows UK.
For hundreds of years, stories have been shared in this dining room, around this table, and yet, there are still stories missing…
On October 2022, Maison Foo and their Creative Sanctuary Group took over the dining room at Pickford’s House, reimagining what and whose stories are told in these buildings.
This intimate and heart-warming theatrical experience gives audiences a chance to hear personal stories from newly arrived friends from all over the world.
The performance aims to give people across the UK with Refugee and Asylum Seeker status, a positive platform from which to tell and share their stories with audiences and beyond, in places where their voice has previously been unheard.
This work follows on from the success of Maison Foo’s Meet Your Neighbour Installation, and was originally commissioned by Derby CAN and created in partnership with Derby Museum and Oddfellows UK where is was set in the dining room at Pickford’s House in Derby. The public is invited to join us for an interactive, digital theatrical experience that will empower and enlighten audiences and participants, alike.
Audiences are invited to take a seat at the dining table, to listen to personal and intimate stories about the familial and universal experience of food and mealtimes. Challenging the perception of who should be seated at the table of grand stately homes and paving the way for a new future…one that is open and accepting of all regardless, of their background and journey to the UK.
Co-created with our Creative Sanctuary Group (a diverse collective of People Seeking Sanctuary in Derby), we have been gathering weekly to share our favourite culinary stories and memories of mealtimes, facilitated by artists and those with a lived experience of seeking sanctuary.
‘Dear Guests, we welcome you to come and sit at our table and listen to our stories. Inspired by our love of cooking, food, and memories of family kitchens all over the world; these are stories we would love to share with you.’
The Creative Sanctuary Group x
Previous audience responses
‘What an incredible experience, if only everyone could come and have a seat at the table’
‘Intensely moving experience…a joy...it will stay with me a long time’
‘Absolutely amazing! I will cry all the way home but I WILL DO something positive for seekers of sanctuary in this country.’
“…And our story about [Pickford’s] house is a story about a dinner party with food and friends from around the world, a community, a new found family, who now live here, in Derby. I hope through this show, people can get to know us better than before, enjoy hearing our stories and enjoy learning about our culture.”
Nasrin Samavi, Community Associate
Original Creative Team:
Creative Sanctuary Group/ Co-Creators- Ahlam, Soraya, Mohammed, Negar, Laura, Abdel, Mahbobeh, Homa, Irem, Yaqoob, Javad, Neelambury, Babak, Gerson, Katya, Bryan, Arsalan, Noshin, Nastaran, Helena.
Bethany Sheldon – Artistic Director / Co-Creator
Nasrin Samavi – Community Associate/ Co-Creator
Theresa Hempsall - Visual Art Lead/ Co-Creator
Kate Chapman - Audio Dramaturg and Co-Creator
Adam McCready - Sound Designer/ Co-Creator
Imogen Melhuish – Set Designer/ Co-Creator
Quad Tech Squad – Digital projection/ Co-Creator
Andy Mandiou – Creative Group Project Manager
Felicity Bromley-Hall – Documentary Filmmaker and Marketing
Gareth Courage – Illustrator / Graphic Designer
Jo McLeish- Press and PR
Sameena Khan – Critical Friend
David Towers/ Dan & Jan Bradshaw - Set Build
Caroline Astell-Burt – Creative group volunteer/ Co-Creator
Rachel Adams – Producer