I Am A Voice

I am a Voice Theatre Company
Performed by Abby Melia, Dorcas Sebuyange, Michelle Sakim, Nadis Marah and Raven Maguire
Unity Theatre, Liverpool
6th - 7th March 2014

Reviewed by Lynsey Farrelly

'I Am A Voice’ at the Unity Theatre carried a strong message to all women about oppression in societies and relationships through domestic violence and oppression of a sexual nature.

The aim was to educate on how these are used in cultures around the world as a method of control and how it is acceptable in some countries for women to be oppressed in this way. It told the stories of five women from five different parts of the world, including the Congo. Each scene described how these five women had fled their countries in order to escape violent backgrounds and made a home for themselves in Liverpool, with hopes of a better life here.

Verse and spoke word were used as a tool to get the message across with the help of percussion and acoustic guitar. This made the stories all the more powerful and heartfelt to watch. In between scenes we were shown video footage of public opinion on the impact of this on women’s lives and how the effect of control in a relationship makes womenafraid to speak out.

Stories from men and women, who were the oppressed or the oppressors in these countries and cultures, where also shown in the footage - one, the mother of the founder Lina of the play, inspired by the plights of women in The Congo.

Her aim is to educate the public on the realities of living in these countries where these kinds of control and oppression are seen as acceptable, and the fact that this even happens in relationships in this country.

There was a discussion and question and answer session following the end of the performance The message behind this very hard hitting, powerful play was that women in this situation do have a voice and can speak out. The play was also celebrating International Women’s Day.

A very strong political message was put forward, that violence in any form should not be acceptable in any culture. This was a very informative play which highlighted some of the differences between other global communities and the western world, and made a stand for women everywhere.

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