Black Man Don’t Float?  is a highly physical show usually performed on a boat, which is coming ashore to UK schools and studio theatres in Autumn 2008 and  2009 as part of an epic voyage across stages, oceans and continents.

You remember all that time I was telling you about Europe? Tonight is going to be good – there is going to be nice sunshine, there is going to be no moon. Tell Sedu and Brima: tonight we are going.

In the ocean off Africa, a white yachtsman collides with an economic migrant who is trying to reach the Canaries in a rickety home-made vessel. 

Black men don’t float. They are dead. No point going back for dead people.

The two men have to co-operate to survive, but their differences appear overwhelming. The sea they see is not the same sea. They are confined in a small space under a vast sky, but are they in the same boat?.

The sea that I see is not the same sea that you see, White Man. Me and my brothers risk our lives just to be on the edge of what you’ve got. 

Black Man Don’t Float? helps UK audiences understand why African migrants are leaving their continent in search of the European Dream. When performed in West Africa, the show seeks to prevent Africans from drowning in poorly planned and equipped voyages. 

Feel that wind my love, Look at you, gliding on the curl of the wind, white in the night, phosphorescing in the dark

UK audiences can communicate directly with young Africans via participation in the Black Man Don’t Float? workshop programme, which generates a cultural cargo to be carried on a theatrical re-tracing of the Atlantic Slave Triangle in 2009 

The water will come up your face, but stop before your mouth and nose as long as you keep your arms and legs down. 

The show lasts 45 minutes without an interval, requires a playing space of 8ft by 8ft and simple studio lighting and sound facilities.

We will take the bodies back to their villages in Africa and bury them in the earth and tell people that no more young men should drown in this sea.

Not for profit:

The Sameboat Project is a not-for-profit organisation committed to using cross cultural art and performance for reconciliation, participation and community building.

We are not seeking to generate commercial profits from the theatrical tour of Black Man Don’t Float?, but we do need to generate income of £500 per day while on tour to cover the production and administration costs of this project.

This fee includes actors’ wages, travel costs, accommodation, administration costs and contingencies.

We are open and flexible with regard to financial arrangements made with host venues and happy to work closely with partners to ensure the performance meets everyone’s needs.

We are happy for venues to set their own workshop fee for participants in order to offset the costs of the show.

Bookings:  

red@sameboatproject.com

   

“illuminating the Arab-Israeli relationship as scorched fragments in a sometimes ravishing display of theatrical fireworks.”