What does it mean to be at loggerheads with reality? "If a person who is at loggerheads with reality possesses an artistic gift... he can transform his phantasies into artistic creations instead of symptoms." — Sigmund Freud, Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1910) In this episode of the Dash Arts Podcast, Artistic Director Josephine Burton dives into two powerful exhibitions that challenge how we understand women, art, and mental health: ? Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists – curated by Lisa Appignanesi and Bryony Davies ? Charlotte Johnson Wahl: What It Felt Like – at Bethlem M ..read more

Join us in the rehearsal room as we craft a new epic - an origin story that celebrates and redefines the migration experience.  Songs of Solidarity (the current working title for Dash Arts and Projekt Europa’s new project) brings together artists, researchers, and refugees to co-create a powerful music-theatre performance. In this episode we look at what makes epics, epic. We explore ancient epics like Kalevala, Gilgamesh, and the Odyssey with academics and then, with migrant artists, asylum seekers and refugees, investigate how we can create new ones rooted in solidarity, displacement, a ..read more

How can the arts help us to encounter others? In December 2024, we were part of a fantastic live discussion at the RSA (Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) discussing how the arts can unlock unheard voices. This podcast brings you some highlights from the event with some extra insights and updates from our Dash Arts Artistic Director Josephine Burton. Hosted by Tom Stratton (Chief of Staff at RSA), our Artistic Director and Chief Executive Josephine Burton was joined on stage by Alan Finlayson (Professor of Political & Social Theory, University of East Anglia), Alecky Blyt ..read more

“All good art is an attempt to wrestle with truth” In the fourth episode on the journey towards our production, The Reckoning, Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton is in conversation with Author and Playwright Gillian Slovo discussing the power of theatre and the responsibilities involved in bringing real people’s stories to the stage. As Dash Arts prepares to produce a theatre production rooted in the testimonies of survivors of the war in Ukraine, Josephine searches for insights into how to create powerful drama whilst doing justice to the people who have lent their stories. Gillian s ..read more

In the third episode on the journey towards our production, The Reckoning, Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton is in conversation with Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Interspersed by some short performances from the developing script, the two discuss the creative process behind the making of the production, rooted in testimonies taken from survivors from the Russian war in Ukraine.  Support this year’s Big Give: Help Bring Reckoning to Life and Double Your Impact! Help Dash Arts bring The Reckoning to life, a powerful documentary-style p ..read more

More than half the world's population is voting in elections this year. Dash Arts dives into one of those elections, speaking to artists in Georgia about how they are responding to the political turmoil in their country. The ruling party, Georgian Dream, is fighting for an unprecedented fourth term at the end of October 2024 and continues to be accused of silencing free speech, taking control of arts and culture and using fear to intimidate any criticism. As part of Dash Arts’ exploration into protest and the public voice, Josephine Burton speaks to three Georgian artist activists who are uni ..read more

“I’ve long nurtured a dream to get out and finally explore what it was about the forests and seas of Laulasmaa, ‘the land of song’, in Estonia that inspired Arvo Pärt and so many musicians.” Join Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton as she travels to the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, Estonia to investigate the mystical musical relationship between nature and the people of Estonia From the Arvo Pärt Centre Josephine wanders the forest, swims in the sea and explores Helikula, ‘the village of sound’, where musicians from the Union of Composers were given summer houses during Soviet Times ..read more

On 4th July millions of UK voters will take to the polls. Candidates are vying for our attention through speeches and debates. In this special episode Artistic Director, Josephine Burton, catches up with four former speech-making workshop participants across the country on how they are experiencing the election campaign, and analyses our political candidates and the quality of their speechmaking with Alan Finlayson, Professor of Political and Social Theory at the University of East Anglia, and collaborator on our national workshops. To find out more about our plans for the theatre production ..read more

Whilst the country builds up to a general election, we’re in the midst of creating Our Public House, Dash Arts’ state-of-the-nation theatre production. Hear from Artistic Director Josephine Burton and playwright Barney Norris on how our play weaves together the ideas and speeches of over 150 voices from across England and the ever shifting political landscape. Plus catch us in the rehearsal room at Theatre Royal Stratford East, performing some of the draft script and songs on stage at HOME in Manchester and in a speech-making workshop with Manchester Deaf Centre as we reflect on the long rese ..read more

In the still of a spring night, we journey into the woods with musicians Sam Lee and Jack Durtnall to hear the beautiful and increasingly rare song of the nightingale with a concert and conversation around the campfire.  Artistic Director Josephine Burton treads lightly in the footsteps of a historic partnership between the nightingale and humans. The BBC’s first ever live outside broadcast was recorded exactly 100 years ago in May 1924 as cellist Beatrice Harrison played alongside a nightingale. Our episode is the start of a new series of Dash Arts podcasts exploring the relationship be ..read more