Support the first international Roma drama collection: Where Are the Roma Heroes?
There are lots of Roma theatre artists and lots of shows but hardly anyone knows them. Roma plays are just as important to know as the stories of any other nation! That is why Independent Theatre is going to publish the first Roma drama collection in the world, presenting plays by 5 European Roma artists in English and Hungarian language, completed with digital materials, too.
Youngsters can then learn from other's stories and become the protagonist of their own life. We believe that it is important to word our thoughts and pass on our stories as we can learn a lot about everyday feats by paying attention to each other and we can even discover the hero in ourselves.
You can help them get this project off the ground by contributing at INDIEGOGO
Why is it important?
The stories of Roma people are most often told by others, albeit every community shall speak up and identify itself through its own stories. The protagonists of the plays face difficulties, make decisions, take responsibility and initiate change. Thus, they empower the youngsters and motivate them to take their fate into their own hands. As the protagonists of the plays are diverse and led by different values, youngsters can decide which way to start based on various aspects and example.
The plays will be available in English and in Hungarian language in e-book format so the international public can get easy access to the publication.
What will be in the book?
The collection presents the plays of five European Roma artists. Franciska Farkas, the renown Hungarian actress makes an honest confession of her life. The play by Mihaela Dragan draws a picture of Romanian Gypsy women's lives and challenges. Through Michael Collins' own experiences we learn about the difficulties that Irish Travellers have to face. The drama written by Richard O’Neill tells about the personal struggle of the Scottish Traveller Jess Smith with the Scottish first minister for the recognition of Traveller people's human rights. Dijana Pavlovic's play reveals the story of Mariella Mehr, writer and a member of the Swiss Jenish minority as well as the details of the biological genocide in Switzerland during the 20th century.
Completing the plays, the e-book will include performance photos, short video scenes and interviews with the artists, and thus sheer words come to life.
What do we need?
Publishing a book is a long process, even after the text is finished: as we are dealing with plays written in various languages, they need to be translated into English and Hungarian, the translated text have to be edited and proofread so that no flaw may remain in the book. The text have to be typeset, a cover is designed and is finalized by graphic post-production. After, it is converted into an e-book or is printed. Twenty copies of the book will be sent to Roma youth groups. The next task is that of the reader: everything is ready, s/he shall simply lose him/herself into the stories.
We have funding to buy the rights but we need your support to translate the plays and to publish the book. For now, our goal is to collect 1500 EUR. If we do not reach our goal, we stick to the e-book publication as it is much more affordable then print a book.
As you see, we got a long way to walk – come with us and support our work so that the most possible people get to know the Roma heroes' stories!
What do we offer?
Everyone, who supports our campaign, will get access to the e-book, including not only the five plays, but many photos of the theatre performances, videos of short scenes and interviews with the artists.
If you cannot contribute, you can also help us by sharing our campaign and follow our Facebook-page: https://www.facebook.com/IndependentTheatreHung..., where you can also find some interesting pieces of information on Roma theatre.
