Hannah and Hanna in Dreamland is a new play by award winning writer / director John Retallack. It opens at the Marlowe in Canterbury in October this year, before touring to coastal communities in the South East and South West.
It incorporates and builds on the success of Retallack’s earlier play, Hannah and Hanna, which opened at Theatre Royal Margate in 2001 and following successful runs in Edinburgh and London, did 3 extensive UK tours as well as touring India, the Philippines and Malaysia. It was performed in Israel, Sweden, France, Holland, Belgium and Germany, translated into 8 languages, broadcast on the World Service and received numerous awards, including a Herald Angel and a nomination for TMA Best Young People’s Show.
Like the original play, Hannah and Hanna in Dreamland augments the narrative with movement, music and visuals to tell the story of the two friends over an fifteen year period. It addresses issues of racism and migration at a time when the world is experiencing the largest displacement of people since World War 2, and explores the impact of incomers on communities and towns.
Hannah and Hanna in Dreamland will be visiting seven areas around the south east – Canterbury, Folkestone, Gravesend, Greenwich, Margate, Poole and Portsmouth. Topics of friendship, migration and integration will be explored through workshops with school and community groups, and statements from participants on how migration has impacted on their lives will be incorporated into a short epilogue.
