ENSEMBLE VOICES

Ensemble Voices is the latest iteration of Prime Cut’s extremely successful Community Outreach Programme which has been running since 2013. In that time, with support from the NI Executive Good Relations Fund, Belfast City Council and Community Relations Council we have worked with over 2000 people from communities across Northern Ireland. The aim has always been to create a collaborative project between a range of groups and communities and ourselves to explore thematically the issues that are relevant and resonant within our society and to offer opportunities for people from a wide variety of backgrounds to get involved with and participate in artistic activity.  

Ensemble Voices was delivered in partnership with over 100 participants from Atlas Women’s Group, An Culturlann, Decorum NI, Dee Street Community Centre, Glen Community Centre, Include Youth,  Inverary Community Centre, Knocknagoney Community Centre, Markets Community Centre and Orchardville Centre based in Belfast, Bangor and Lisburn.  

Over a period of eight months, Prime Cuts team of facilitators worked with the 10 groups, initially through single identity, then latterly in shared space workshops exploring the theme of Voices. Who has a voice in our society? Who has not?  Why is this? Who decides what should be head? What are the stories we should be hearing and are not? There questions would form the basis of a planned multi-disciplinary showcase at the Lyric Theatre in March 2020.   Alongside the workshops, the participants were given the opportunity to attend various cultural outings and saw theatre productions at the Lyric Theatre , The Mac, The Strand Theatre, Belfast International Arts Festival and Clonard Monastery.

Just when the project was near to completion and rehearsals were underway for the final showcase: “And That’s When I Had To Speak”, the Pandemic happened, the theatres closed, we went into Lockdown and the world ground to a halt. Literally two weeks before the show opened. Given the sheer amount of work, enthusiasm, creativity and commitment put into the project by participants and artistic team alike, to be stopped this close to completion was massively disappointing. We would like to thank everyone involved, everyone who nearly made this happen. It was a pleasure to work with you and we hope you enjoyed it too. We look forward to working with you again when normality is with us once again and are delighted to announce that a new Ensemble – this time exploring Colour will begin in late 2020, all going well. We’ll keep you posted and keep checking in with us.

“You feel it. The urge to speak, to shout, to be heard. But you stop. They haven’t listened before. They’re not listening now. Frustration builds…

You think your voice isn’t important. You’ve always been in the shadows. You stay quiet. They’re speaking. They’ve always been speaking. Frustration builds…Then it happens. You can’t hold it in anymore. You should never have held it in. It’s not just for you anymore. It’s for them. It’s for all of us... And that’s when you had to speak. Sometimes, it’s easier to speak up when you do it for love, for what’s right, for justice, for peace of mind. When was your time? When is your time? It’s not just simply the sharing of memories, it’s the passing on of history, of remembering what was important, what mistakes were made and lessons learned, what we’re leaving for future generations. A documenting of changing times and turning tides. It’s time to speak…”