Sanctuary at Unity Theatre Liverpool
Sanctuary: RAWD REVIEWS
WRITTEN BY KEZIAH
My name is Keziah, welcome to RAWD Reviews! I am writing this review because I love write, see theatre and share my creativity.
On the 25th of October I went to Unity theatre to see Sanctuary by Red Ladder Theatre, Directed by Cheryl Martin, Book, music and lyrics by Sarah Woods and Boff Whalley.
Sanctuary is about a young man called Alland, an Iranian man, who begs to be given sanctuary at St Mary’s church, the community react in all the ways each person believes to be right.
Molly, a young worker at the church, joins forces with vicar Fiona to try to protect Alland from authorities and people who want to send him home.
The stage was set up like a church with a stained glass window, and benches.
Sanctuary stars Ingrid Bolton-Gabrielsen as Molly, Aein Nasseri as Alland, Emily Chattle as Fiona, Richard Kay as Peter, and Ravneet Sehra as Uzma.
They were also joined by students from capa college.
Sanctuary really makes you think about your morals and brings the question where is safe?
Throughout the show there's a bunch of scenes that show how low humans can be, such as harming an immigrant, people splitting apart, and people's morals being tested.
The actors were extremely passionate about what they were standing up for, and you could tell because they ended up crying.
One thing I loved was how it showed us not to give up on what is right.
The singing was very passionate and emotional, and you could tell all the actors cared about what they weere saying, and really wanted to let the audience know that we should fight to protect people in similar situations to Alland.
I really admired everyone's dedication and willingness to defend such an important cause because it is massively underlooked and there's a massive negative stigma about immigration and immigrants.
The creative team behind Sanctuary has worked closely with refugees and asylum seekers to give a true account.
Sanctuary asks the question: “Do we want safety and freedom for only ourselves, or for us all?”
I would give this show a 4 out of 5 as I loved everything it stood for.
CREATIVE CORNER:
This is a place for Keziah to share any of her creative ideas that are inspired by the show!
Where is safe?
Watching this show made me really think about what is safety and where is it?
Lately this world has become a pretty dark place and safety is rare, hospitals, churches, and even some police stations are not safe!
So where can we truly find safety?
I personally think in order for somewhere to be safe people need to learn compassion and understanding for all people.
On the way home we were talking to an African taxi driver about the play and he said he would rather go back to his own country then be here, which makes me think what can we do better as a society, as no-one should have to feel that way?
Maybe we need to make safer places, places people can go to be protected, more kindness, more love, and more coming together and helping one and other as a society.
We are all human and everyone deserves to feel safe, and for that to happen we need to do more as a society.