Spotlight on Artist Residencies: Introducing Adi & Hamza

Tell us a bit about yourself and your work?
Hamza: Hi, I’m Hamza a director and movement practitioner with a practice spanning direction, facilitation, and performance. Recent work includes Community (Birmingham Rep), Statues (Bush Theatre) and Duck (Pleasance/Arcola Theatre). I served as the Resident Director for Kiss Marry Kill (Dante or Die) and was the lead performer in Waswasa (Birmingham Hippodrome). I’ve also facilitated movement workshops for NYT, Lung, Kiln, Peut-Être, and Age UK; and produced original shows for The Place and Edinburgh Fringe. Currently, with Adi Gortler I’m developing a new work, Bottled under our residency at artsdepot.

Adi: My name is Adi, I’m a London-based movement director, teacher, and director/ theatre maker. 

Tell us about the idea you’re exploring as part of the residency? Who are you working with?
Hamza: Our project, Bottled, is all about bringing Muslim and Jewish voices from the community into the narrative of the show. An organisation that is helping us do that is our charity partner StandUp Education Against Discrimination. They’re an inter-faith initiative that brings together Muslim and Jewish facilitators to speak at schools and organisations all about anti-discrimination.  

Adi: I’m Passioned about the story our bodies are telling. I’m interested in the Movement Identity each person and artist carry with them, and the ways we can share these stories with the world. Under the Movement Identity practice, while teaching or directing, my main objective is celebrating the people in the room; Their unique experience and language, and how we translate and shape it into our collaborative work. 

What are your inspirations/influences?  
Hamza: A major influence and inspiration for the work is the theme of water. We both understand water as something that is so ritually sacred to both of these religious communities but is often the subject of controversy and conflict too. We are very interested in the way global events can leak into personal spaces.  

What’s the best bit of advice about the industry/being an artist you have received?
Hamza: The best bit of advice I’ve received about being an artist was from my secondary school drama teacher. At a time when I was deciding whether theatre would be a ‘sustainable career’. And she simply said to me, someone’s gotta do it. 

What’s your favourite theatre show/gig in the past 12 months and why?
Hamza: I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite, but I know The Years is playing in the West End at the moment. I was lucky enough to catch it at the Almeida and was absolutely blown away.

Adi: My recent favourite show would be The Cherry Orchard at the Donmar. A theatrical celebration in each and every aspect possible. 

Watching
Hamza: I’ve been binging Chef’s Table on Netflix.
Adi: Jury Duty   

 Listening to
Hamza: Lots of Ezra Collective.
Adi: My curated delicious playlist (28h long of music options) 

Reading
Hamza: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Adi: Etty Hillsum’s book An Interrupted Life (can’t recommend enough)