It’s an 8km swim from Güzelçamli, Turkey to the Greek Island of Samos. That’s 160 lengths of an Olympic sized swimming pool.

Swim is a meditative audio experience that imagines the effects of migration on the self. The project guides the audience through to the finish of that treacherous swim: 8km, from Güzelçamlı to Samos, the length to cross into asylum. Loosely inspired by the ancient epic poem, Laila & Majnun, Swim imagines the physical, mental, and spiritual tolls of displacement.

Digital Workshop Showing

As part of the 2021 SummerWorks Lab, the creative team developed a workshop audio presentation. You can listen to that version here.

Creative Team

Created by Jivesh Parasram, Tom Arthur Davis, David Mesiha, & Gavan Cheema

Written by Jivesh Parasram & Tom Arthur Davis

Directed by David Mesiha & Gavan Cheema

Production Design by David Mesiha

Collaborator: Tim Carlson

Workshop Readers: Tsholo Khalema, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, & Sally Zori

Production History

August 2021 • SummerWorks Performance Festival • Toronto, ON

Supporters

This project has been made possible through the generous support of PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, SummerWorks Performance Festival, Why Not Theatre, Theatre Conspiracy, Crow’s Theatre, Volcano Theatre, Suitcase in Point, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Government of Canada.