The Just Festival starts this month, brining a range of conversations, talks, exhibitions and performances which engage with topical local, national and international questions of social justice, equality and identity, including prejudice against race, ethnicity, class and economic status. Check out our top picks!
Head to just-festival.org for the full programme.
100 Years of Balfour
11,12,15,16,18,19 August | 17:15-18:35 | St John’s Church
A dramatised reading of letters exchanged between the British, Palestinian and Zionist parties 100 years ago sheds more light on the events that led to the present geopolitical relations in the Middle East. With visual and musical elements to locate and inform the narrative.
Lal Batti Express
5,8,9 August | 17:30-18:30 | St John’s Church
11,12,15,16 August | 19:30-20:30 | St John’s Church
The Kranti (Revolution) theatre group empowers girls from Mumbai’s red-light areas to become agents of social change. Born and raised in the red-light district, the girls often face harsh realities early on in their lives but through this project they use drama to challenge clichés and misconceptions surrounding sex workers and their families. ‘Lal Batti Express (Red-Light Express)’, is a compilation of their life stories and experiences, a journey through their past, present and future.
Mimi’s Suitcase
4 August | 17:30-18:30 | St John’s Church
5,8,9,11,12 Aug | 21:30-22:30 | St John’s Church
14-19 Aug | 20:30-21:30 | Quaker Meeting House
21-26 Aug | 18:30-19:30 |Quaker Meeting House
‘Mimi’s Suitcase’ is a multilingual, auto-biographical, award-winning one-woman play written and performed by Ana Bayat. It explores identity and the consequences of displacement as it follows Iranian teen Mimi’s return to her war-torn homeland after a happy childhood in Barcelona.
Finding a New Home
22 August | 19:30-21:00 | Quaker Meeting House
Scotland has now taken in a large proportion of refugees settled in the UK following the recent refugee and migrant crisis in Europe. What are the challenges of welcoming people burdened with the weight of experiential and emotional baggage? How can we help make life in Scotland inclusive, productive and happy for anyone who settles here?
A night of poetry (by poet and refugee Iyad Hayetleh) and tories to better understand the reasons and circumstances behind refugees decisions to settle in Scotland and contribute to a discussion on how to identify best routes and practices in finding a new home for people affected by conflict and war.