I have only come across the Live Theatre this year at uni, and the discovery couldn’t have come soon enough.
Situated by the Quayside, one of the most iconic spots in Newcastle and the perfect place for Joana Geronimo to tell her story, ‘From The Sky To Your Hands’ about moving to Newcastle as a teenager, mother and refugee in the early 2000s. Having Joana actually stand on stage and tell her story rather than have it told by someone else was so powerful and personal, I truly don;t believe anyone else could have told her story quite like her. Having her son in the cast playing himself was also brilliant, and as an audience member you could see their genuine relationship and all they had gone through unfold on stage.
The play managed to have both a sense of professionalism and a warm, local atmosphere
Geronimo described Newcastle as the place she discovered ‘mushroom, bacon and racism’. The performance reflected a lot on the changing multicultural society of Newcastle and how people like Joana and her son encounter racism in everyday situations.
I was also blown away by the professionalism and talent of the chorus, played by members of the Live theatres youth theatre group. I was genuinely convinced they were professional actors until I read the programme.
The play managed to have both a sense of professionalism and a warm, local atmosphere. It definitely benefited from being a Newcastle-centric play performed by people from the city and I look forward to looking out for any work Geronimo does with Live Theatre in the future.