In 2016, in response to the ongoing refugee crisis, Miriam Gould and I came together as Double Trouble - an international female double-act coming from a range of disciplines, including physical theatre, music and comedy. We took a closer look at displacement and reflected on our own family histories: my grandparents’ deportation from Lithuania to Siberia by the Soviets; and Miriam’s grandmother fleeing from Vienna to America from the Nazis, exploring their global migration routes, written and photographic traces left behind as well as our own choice to live in a foreign country and its consequences.

Lithuania, Vienna, Dachau, Siberia, New Jersey, The Netherlands, UK... Based on autobiographical material, Adventures in Black and White explores displacement and its aftermath through storytelling, soundscapes and physical imagery. We follow the parallel lives of two people in exile, one in Siberia, the other in Sussex, both forced to leave their homes as children in the first half of the twentieth century. Their experience of displacement has crystallised into half-remembered stories, blurry photographs, family habits and two Granddaughters who are having trouble finding their roots.

Creative team: Judita Vivas and Miriam Gould (devising performers); Charles Adrian (dramaturg); Andrea Carr (design); Marcela Iriarte Villalobos (set); Robin Lill (costume).

Performances: Camden People’s Theatre (2017-2018), Streatham Space Project (2018), and Voila! Europe Festival (2018), London.

Funded by the Arts Council England.