https://youtu.be/Z6jFB3ou2qk
Birmingham Eastside’s Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra will be part of a discussion panel at a unique theatre performance this week, as a national show about women’s refuge cuts comes to Birmingham.
Refuge Woman, a semi-autobiographical one-woman show about life in a refuge, came about as a result of a collaborative investigation into cuts to women’s refuges by Bureau Local.
Each of the eight performances in cities across the UK is followed by a discussion with local experts and a journalist who took part in the investigation.
“Last October my colleagues and I worked collaboratively with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism on a story about the cuts affecting woman refuges in Birmingham,” explains Wan. “The Bureau Local provided us with the data, and we looked into the Birmingham side of the story.”
As the Bureau Local began planning the theatre project they approached Wan again and asked her to get involved.
“I said yes. To be honest, at first I wasn’t sure because I am an international student in the city and I wasn’t confident about speaking publicly. But my husband and friends convinced me that I just needed to tell the audience about my experiences reporting on the story.”
Less than a week until #RefugeWoman lands in #Birmingham (Saturday 28 July)! Powerful, funny, moving show about life in a women's refuge- followed by talk about services in Birmingham. Tickets from £5 (let us know if that's out of range + we can help). https://t.co/vTQNVFlfEk pic.twitter.com/Oe1twdosfy
— The Bureau Local (@bureaulocal) July 22, 2018
Now Wan, who is from Indonesia, says she is excited about getting involved, and showing the audience “some facts that maybe they didn’t know before coming to the event.
“This will be my first experience of giving a talk to a non-Indonesian audience, as well as my first experience talking about domestic violence. I hope that being part of this type of event will give me a better understanding about this issue that so close to me.”
Refuge Woman comes to Birmingham on Saturday July 28. Tickets can be bought through Eventbrite for £5, or you can contact Bureau Local if the price is outside of your budget.
