The stories we tell about our lives hold great power. They reveal our soul. They provoke laughter and tears. They pass on ideas and memories, and help us make meaning. Our stories are dramas, comedies, histories – just as in Shakespeare’s earliest printed collection of plays, known as the First Folio.

Laila, Safenez, Entisar, Selma, Huda, Rasha, Rola, Monteha and Samaher were forced to leave their homes in Syria, Kurdistan, Sudan and Palestine, and are now settled in Stratford-upon-Avon. They co-created this audio-visual work in a process led by composer Liz Gre, weaving together life stories collected from friends and family.

Three Gold Threads gives us unique access to fresh perspectives on the First Folio. As the Royal Shakespeare Company explores the ideas of power shifts, this project reflects Shakespeare’s own fascination with authority and influence in society: who holds power, whether that can change, and what would happen to the world if it did.

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“This work was meant to create a space of opacity. Where the stories of these women who faced incredible challenges could exist without the push and pull of anyone else’s influence or desire for translation or consumption. Not even mine. It was meant to honour these women and women across the globe, and even Anne Hathaway, who take on the role of family archive- holding, protecting their family history in their bones, in their hearts. Carrying them across countless miles of land, through danger and the unknown. Living archives. For their stories are exactly what they are: powerful, comedic, dramatic. They create a legacy that is yet to be seen, but is undoubtedly history as we live it.

Together, we sparked a sound archive rooted in the seeds of our lives - our experiences. The way our mothers told stories. The reasons we find resilience. The sounds that mark our childhoods and guide us now. The normal, everyday occurrences that tell us we have found a home in an unknown land. These seeds of the archive are the golden threads that allow us to see connection among strangers. And tether us to the larger folio of the human experience.

As a non-Arabic-speaking viewer, you may not understand exactly what is being said. You may have difficulty assessing who said what. I encourage you to settle in to what might be discomfort, and find appreciation for the generosity in being brought closer to what someone else deems meaningful, important and necessary.

Article from This Is Tomorrow by Amah-Rose Abrams http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/liz-gres-three-gold-threads