Partitions - a new one-man play by Joe Nawaz

Partitions! They’re bloody everywhere, aren’t they? Hell, we even had one round this way a while back. But really, what are they all about? Writer Joe Nawaz fancies he knows a thing or two about the “P” word ...

For one thing, he’s the product of folks whose very identities were shaped by that most favourite British hobby of partitioning stuff - in this case the adorably bijou island of Ireland and the big old Indian subcontinent.

And for another thing, there’s the time his mildly eccentric dad installed a wobbly, not-entirely-legal plasterboard partition in the kids’ bedroom, instantly converting their modest family home into a desirable four-bedroom health and safety nightmare. It did however have the redeeming quality of gently reverberating every time someone farted- as good a metaphor as any for the complex interrelationship between people separated by walls ...

In this hilarious whirlwind collision of the personal and the political, Joe uses his family's complex relationship with partition to trace a finger over the scar left by colonial separations. He asks questions like “why was there no decent merch for the Northern Ireland centenary celebrations?”, reveals deranged teenage paramilitary fantasies and examines his mum and dad’s very different first world war family folklores. “Partitions” is a spellbinding show which deftly weaves intimate revelations with wider historical observations to examine how partitions are still very much alive and well – but definitely not living in Chiswick.

Joe’s previous work includes the critically acclaimed one man shows Fake ID and Five Days.

“Go see Joe Nawaz’ harrowing, funny and deeply moving Five Days. It’s as raw (in all senses) a piece of autobiographical theatre as I’ve ever seen. Strange, unsettling and always compelling” - Jimmy Fay, Creative Director, Lyric Theatre

“Really thought this was going to be a harrowing tale of pain and loss but Joe Nawaz’ show had so much humour in it and his performance had a vulnerability which was so endearing. I knew early on that I would have a great night” - Dominic Carville on Five Days

“Joe Nawaz was astounding tonight in Five Days. Full of pace, humour, wit, emotion and energy. Utterly brilliant writing and performance” - Cathy Carson on Five days

“Brutally honest, amazingly eloquent and laugh out loud funny – Fake ID by Joe Nawaz has it all” - Kellie Burch onFake ID

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Host or Publisher Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics