Aza: stories of grief in the diaspora

In this debut Fringe show, acclaimed poets Charaf Tartoussi, Farah Beaini, Thabani Tshuma and Parminder Kaur merge spoken word, theatre and mourning ritual to explore grief from the migrant perspective.

Supported by musical composition from ABC Classic FM’s Meena Shamaly, the show dives into their respective retellings, reimaginings and reclamations of grieving a family member from a homeland elsewhere.

Each bringing their mastery of poetic performance and craft, these artists embark on an honest voyage through a grief as ancestral as it is foreign. From longing and guilt to curiosity and pride, they will venture into the breadth of emotion in their migrant and diasporic mourning.

A project as necessary as it is emotive, Aza offers a dynamic feast of storytelling that confronts preconceptions, deconstructs realities and examines existing narrativesaround one of the most universal human experiences and the different ways it can make, break and shape us.

Charaf Tartoussi, creator and lead artist says, ‘I am so incredibly proud of the work that has gone into this show, the way these artists have come together and trusted one another with the vulnerability in their grief, how honest and authentic these stories are, how lucky we are to be able to tell them, I can't wait to share them with the rest of the world’.

“Grief is a shifting emotion; part of its processing demands exploration. As we do that, the show will be a cathartic experience for both of us, as performers and theaudience alike.” says acclaimed poet, writer and cast member Thanani Tshuma

Aza allows audience members to stare into the maw of mourning and offers the opportunity to face it and emerge on the other side changed in some way.

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