WWW (World Wide Workshop) is the Royal Exchange’s International Theatre Company which meets on Wednesday evenings at the Exchange. For adults aged 18 or over, the group focuses on practical drama and the creation of pieces of theatre from scratch.

WWW began as a theatre group for refugees and asylum seekers. We have recently entitled it 'International' as we have broadened the identity of the group to include some individuals who may not be refugees but for whom English is not a first language, or whose circumstances mean they may feel displaced and/or not usually able to access practical theatre and drama groups.

Sessions are FREE, and no experience is necessary.

Previous presentations by WWW:
November 2006 to June 2007; FACE TO FACE LOVE IN THE UK: A series of sketches, linked by the theme of Relationships. It began its life as a series of games and improvisations and this devised performance marked the first production of the Refugee Theatre Company.
September to December 2007; CALL ME: The second play from the Company was inspired by a sharing of stories about the telephone, life before the mobile phone and the power of the telephone in parts of the world where poverty dictates that only one person in a town or village owns a phone.
March 2007 to July 2008; SCARED: Devised in response to the Refugee Action Campaign on Destitution. "There exists in Britain a new and growing excluded class of people whose asylum applications have been refused, who are afraid or unable to return to their countries of origin, who have no contact with the authorities, no access to work or mainstream support services, and little prospect of their situation being resolved."
March to June 2009; YOU AND ME: For Summer 2009, the World Wide Workshop took to the road with their latest offering YOU AND ME. A light hearted look at their favourite themes: relationships, love and loss, mistaken identities, being dumped and falling in love all over again.

Individuals from the group have also been involved in other education projects including YPTW and You Are Here, provided production advice for PALACE OF THE END and POWDER MONKEY, and delivered workshops for other refugee organizations.

The theatre’s programme of work for refugees and asylum seekers has also included tours, workshops and tickets for students from the Windrush Centre (Manchester College), tickets for the Stockport Refugee Support Group and links with the Zimbabwe Association.

“WWW offers me the opportunity to do what I love most, acting, and affords me the chance to meet with people who have different background and come from different countries, culture, religions and languages, and even people of different ages. We learn to work with each other to create a performance which include many diverse views in harmony.”
Abas Eljanabi, WWW participant

For further information about the group please contact Amanda Dalton on amanda.dalton@royalexchange.co.uk or telephone 0161 615 6720.