Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival project Miss Represented takes new show on tour for the first time this autumn

Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival’s flagship project Miss Represented is going on tour for the first time, taking new show Can You See Me Now? to Brighton and beyond this autumn, including two nights at The Basement (Fri 24 & Sat 25 Nov).

Miss Represented works with young women who face challenging life situations, using the arts to explore life experiences gaining a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

This year the group of 12 young women aged 13-21 have been working to create Can You See Me Now? a body of work which follows the experiences of those often unheard, finding their way through life, inviting audiences to see the world through their eyes. A cross-art performance combining theatre, film, spoken word and music, Can You See Me Now? explores the experiences of the young women as they go through school, the care system or contact with Social Services. It examines our inner and outer worlds, cycles of holding it together, saying you’re fine, until everything crumbles, and how we build ourselves back up again.

Can You See Me Now? will be touring to schools and pupil referral units, as well as public performances at The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (9 Nov), The Basement (24 & 25 Nov), and Battersea Arts Centre (2 Dec). The show is pay what you choose, but advance booking is required. An audience Q&A will follow each performance. Further UK dates are to be announced.

Rebecca Fidler, Creative Project Manager says ‘Can You See Me Now? is Miss Represented’s latest body of work which we are very excited to be taking out on tour. Sharing stories and experiences creatively is a powerful tool for personal development and social change, so to visit arts venues, schools and Pupil Referral Units in Brighton and beyond is a fantastic opportunity. We want to connect with diverse audiences sparking dialogue and debate with our new show and Q&A, enabling the girls to use their creative skills, see themselves in different ways and connect with a whole range of people across society. There is such value in engaging in these creative processes and making a commitment to something as ambitious as a tour, we are excited to take that leap and see where the adventure takes us. We hope to see you there!’

Since Miss Represented started in 2011, the project’s achievements have included a collaboration with multi award-winning rapper Plan B, an appearance on BBC Radio 1Xtra, a retrospective of work at Brighton Dome to celebrate International Women’s Day and sell-out performances of their show Home: Life which explored experiences of being young and homeless with little or no support system. Young women from Miss Represented also recently shared their stories as pop-up performances around Brighton this May as part of Brighton Festival 2017 commission the Storytelling Army.

In October 2016, Miss Represented was awarded a Big Lottery Fund grant of £158,508, enabling the project to grow and benefit more young women. Can You See Me Now? is also supported by The Chalk Cliff Trust.