Dash Arts

09/10/2026

“Heroes are objects of debate. They’re not exemplars...”

In the latest episode of OffScript, Josephine Burton is joined by the brilliant Dame Marina Warner, writer, mythographer and cultural historian whose work has spent decades asking what our stories, myths and cultural symbols reveal about the world we live in.

From Joan of Arc and the Virgin Mary to The Arabian Nights, Marina has explored the stories we inherit and the ways they shape our ideas about gender, power, identity and belonging.

It’s one of those conversations that sends you off thinking about stories differently.

Songs of Solidarity: Dame Marina Warner
Listen to the latest episode of OffScript: https://www.dasharts.org.uk/

08/10/2026

Songs of Solidarity asks a big question: what might an epic for our time look like?

One written and performed by migrants. One that draws on ancient traditions to tell stories of displacement, belonging and survival in the world we live in now.

Next Thursday we're coming to Senate House for a special evening of conversation, performance and new writing.

Join us for a glimpse into the making of this ambitious new theatre work from Dash Arts and PROJEKT UTOPIA, exploring contemporary forced migration through the lens of epic storytelling.

We’ll be joined by an incredible group of thinkers and artists:

Leo Boix, award-winning bilingual Latinx poet and one of the writers commissioned for Songs of Solidarity

Josephine Burton, Artistic Director of Dash Arts and co-director of Songs of Solidarity

Professor Fiona Macintosh, Emeritus Professor of Classical Reception at the University of Oxford and former Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama

The conversation will be chaired by Professor Katherine Harloe, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies.

Alongside the conversation, we’ll share short readings from new material created during the development process, offering a glimpse into how lived experience, academic research and poetic imagination are coming together to create a contemporary “polyphonic epic.”

And afterwards, join us for a drink and continue the conversation.

Songs of Solidarity: Rewriting the Epic for a Migratory World
Thursday 15 October - 6-7:30pm
Institute of Classical Studies, Senate House, London

Book your place: https://www.dasharts.org.uk/events/songs-of-solidarity-rewriting-the-epic-for-a-migratory-world

07/10/2026

“People think that it’s completely imprinted that we have a ‘natural’ hostility to strangers. It’s actually not true.”

In episode three of Songs of Solidarity on OffScript, Josephine Burton sits down with writer and historian Dame Marina Warner to talk about myth, belonging, migration and the stories we tell about one another.

From ancient epics to childhood songs, Marina explores how storytelling can help us understand each other, cross borders and challenge the idea that we are naturally hostile to those we see as strangers.

They talk about Marina’s work with young refugees through Stories in Transit, the epic of Gilgamesh, and the radical possibility of using ancient stories to create new ways of imagining belonging.

Songs of Solidarity is a Dash Arts and PROJEKT UTOPIA co-production, currently in research and development.

Listen to episode three of OffScript via the link in our bio.

Songs of Solidarity: Dame Marina Warner
Wednesday 7 October

listen now: https://www.dasharts.org.uk/podcast-1/songs-of-solidarity-dame-marina-warner

06/10/2026

WE’RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE.

Tomorrow on OffScript, Josephine Burton is joined by Dame Marina Warner.

Writer. Historian. Mythographer. Novelist. Cultural historian. One of the great thinkers on myths, fairy tales, storytelling and the cultural stories we inherit.

Marina has spent decades asking big questions about the figures and stories that shape us, from the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc to The Arabian Nights and ancient mythology. She’s also the founder of Stories in Transit, a project using storytelling and ancient epics to work with refugee storytellers.

In this episode of Songs of Solidarity, Josephine and Marina talk about heroes, strangers, belonging and the power of stories to help us imagine a different world.

Songs of Solidarity: Dame Marina Warner
Out tomorrow on OffScript.

We can’t wait for you to hear it.

02/10/2026

ONE CHAPTER ENDS. FOUR MORE BEGIN.

Our latest Substack is out.

After almost five years of making Our Public House, we’ve closed the door on one huge project. But, as ever at Dash, while one thing ends, several others are already quietly taking shape.

In this edition, Artistic Director Josephine Burton writes about The Reckoning heading to New York, The Degenerates finally moving into the development room, Songs of Solidarity taking its first steps into the world, and what’s coming up for OffScript.

A look behind the productions at what we’re thinking about, researching, making and wondering about next.

Read now:

The Reckoning heads to New York, The Degenerates finally gets moving, and Songs of Solidarity steps into the world.

01/10/2026

NEW DASH ARTS SUBSTACK OUT NOW

Our latest Substack is out today, with Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton, sharing what’s happening behind the scenes at Dash.

The Reckoning is heading to New York. The Degenerates is moving into the development room. Songs of Solidarity is taking its first steps into the world, and our new OffScript podcast series is bringing some brilliant conversations into the mix.

Subscribe now: https://dasharts.substack.com/subscribe

25/09/2026

What might an epic for our time sound like?

Join us this October at Senate House for an evening of conversation, performance and new writing exploring the development of Songs of Solidarity.

The project asks what happens when one of the oldest forms of storytelling meets one of the defining experiences of our time: migration.

Hosted by Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton as part of her Practitioner in Residence tenure, the evening brings together Josephine, Professor Katherine Harloe, Professor Fiona Macintosh of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama, and writer Leo Boix.

The conversation will be woven through with new material from the project, offering a glimpse into how lived experience, academic research and poetic imagination are becoming a contemporary “polyphonic epic”.

Songs of Solidarity is a new interdisciplinary theatre work by Dash Arts and PROJEKT UTOPIA, written and performed by migrants and drawing on ancient epic traditions to tell stories of displacement, belonging and survival.

Thursday 15 October, 6–7:30pm
Institute of Classical Studies, Senate House, London

Book your place:

A public conversation and performance exploring the development of Songs of Solidarity, a new theatre work examining contemporary forced migration through the lens of epic storytelling.

24/09/2026

Finding her way back to music

In the latest episode of OffScript, Josephine Burton talks to Afghan singer and composer Elaha Soroor about finding her way back to music after arriving in London.

For Elaha, music became a way to reconnect, find her voice and build a new creative life. Their conversation explores the power of art to create connection and community.

This is the second episode in our Songs of Solidarity series, created with PROJEKT UTOPIA. The series brings together artists, writers and thinkers to explore migration, displacement, survival and the stories we tell to make sense of them.

Listen to Songs of Solidarity: Elaha Soroor on OffScript via the link in our bio.

Listen to Songs of Solidarity: Elaha Soroor: https://www.dasharts.org.uk/podcast-1/songs-of-solidarity-elaha-soroor

16/09/2026

What does it take to reclaim your voice?

In the latest episode of OffScript, Josephine Burton is joined by Afghan singer and composer Elaha Soroor for a deeply personal conversation about music, migration, survival and resistance.

Elaha began her career as a celebrated musician in Afghanistan before being forced to leave the country. In London, she found her way back to music, using it to speak about the lives of Afghan women and the realities of displacement.

Speaking about the risks she faced, Elaha shares:

“I could get killed for it. I was scared for my life.”

The conversation explores the power of music to say what other forms cannot, the inspiration behind her latest album Our Freedoms Must Be Won, and her collaboration with Kefaya.

This is the second episode in our Songs of Solidarity series, a new Dash Arts and PROJEKT UTOPIA production exploring migration, displacement, survival and the stories we tell to make sense of them.

Listen to Songs of Solidarity: Elaha Soroor https://www.dasharts.org.uk/podcast-1/songs-of-solidarity-elaha-soroor