FILMS

SANDGLASS THEATER’s action-packed, high-energy production is a response to the worldwide refugee crisis and its impact on communities in the United States. Working with the USCRI Vermont (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants), we seek to understand the challenges that face refugees and asylum seekers. Sandglass conducted research and interviews with new residents who immigrated to the US in order to gain insight into their plight and the challenges of resettlement. Babylon looks at the relationship of refugees to their homelands, lost and new, and the conflicts that exist within the countries to which they flee.

Using puppets and moving panoramic scrolls, five actor/singer/puppeteers tell refugees’ stories in original four-part choral songs. For ages 14 and up.

Conceived and created by Sandglass Theater
Directed by Eric Bass
Directorial Collaborator for first staging Roberto Salomon
Designed by Ines Zeller Bass
The Ensemble: Shoshana Bass, Kalob Martinez, Raphael Sacks, Divyamaan Sahoo, Kaitee Yaeko Tredway
Puppets and Crankies by Ines Zeller Bass with Jana Zeller
Songs composed by Brendan Taaffe, lyrics by Eric Bass
Percussion score by Julian Gerstin
Choral Director Becky Graber, Rapheal Sacks
Artistic Collaboration Rowan Ching, Ron Domingo, Molly Gawler, Jay Gelter, Dey Hernandez, Terrell Jones, Linda Tardif, Alan White
Immigration interviewer Keeley Eastly
Voice recording by Finn Campman
Projection and Sound design by Maria Pugnetti
Set building Zak Grace
Touring Technical Direction by Jamie Keithline
Conflict Transformation Training John Ungerleider
Film by Haptic Pictures Filming
Technical Direction by Maria Pugnetti

Created in cooperation with USCRI Vermont: Amila Merdzanovic, Director Laurie Stavrand, Program Officer

Thanks to Dina Nayeri for the use of her texts from “The Ungrateful Refugee,” as published in The Guardian in 2017.

Thank you to the many refugees from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, and Somalia who told us their stories.

Development of Babylon: Journeys of Refugees was made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Fresh Sound Foundation, The Jim Henson Foundation, The McKenzie Family Charitable Trust, The Vermont Community Foundation, The National Performance Network with commissions from The Flynn Center, Portland Ovations, and Columbia College Chicago Center for Community Arts Partnerships.

The film was created with funding from the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and The Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program.

Touring support is provided through the generosity of The Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program and by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.