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UNKNOWN SOLDIER: SENI SENEVIRATNE at Performance Lab, University of Sheffield

  • Renaissance One University of Sheffield Sheffield United Kingdom (map)

Experience a moving one-woman performance and multi-media installation which brings to life the hidden family narrative of poet-artist Seni Seneviratne and her father's experiences as a Royal Signalman in the North African Desert War.  

At the heart of the story is a photo-album, the only surviving record of a friendship between two signalmen: one Seni's father, a young man from colonial Ceylon, the other an unknown photographer. It explores her father’s return from the war, his marriage to a Yorkshire woman and family life in Leeds. The show is based on the poetry collection Unknown Soldier (Peepal Tree, 2019) by Seneviratne and forms part of the Unknown Soldier Tour 2023. It has been created with direction consultancy by Amanda Huxtable, filming and editing by Gavin Repton, image and sound design by James Waring, curation support by Melanie Abrahams, film and voice recordings by Rav Sanghera and Simon Marshall and production by Renaissance One. Funded by Arts Council England.

Showtime 1 hour approx. Suitable for 14 + 

Trigger warning
This show contains an account of experiences of hate speech/racial discrimination that audience members may find disturbing.