OffScript

We take you behind the scenes of our special Songs of Solidarity event recorded live at the Institute of Classical Studies. Join us as we explore what it means to create an epic for our time by bringing ancient narratives - from The Odyssey and Gilgamesh to the Mahabharata and Shahnameh - into conversation with contemporary migrant experiences. Discover how one of Songs of Solidarity writers, poet...

“Mobility, movement, migration—these aren't just things that happen to music. It is really very much a part of what music itself is.” Josephine is joined by Dr. Florian Scheding, Associate Professor of Music and Migration at the University of Bristol. Together, they explore how music acts not merely as a passive reflection of human movement, but as an active force capable of crossing physical...

"We don't need fortresses; we need ports." In this episode, Josephine Burton sits down with one of the world's most brilliant minds on myth and belonging, Dame Marina Warner. From the haunting songs of our childhood to the timeless epic of Gilgamesh , Marina explores the radical idea that storytelling isn't just entertainment but survival. Recorded in Marina’s beautiful, art-...

What does it take to reclaim your voice when your country wants to silence it - and then take it on stage? This is the second in our Songs of Solidarity series - conversations with artists, academics, writers and thinkers whose lives and work illuminate the themes at the heart of our new production: migration, displacement, survival, and the stories we tell to make sense of all three. In this epis...

How do you create an epic for the modern world? This is the start of our Songs of Solidarity mini-series; Josephine Burton and Maria Aberg take us behind the scenes as they discuss the journey of the last 18 months—from researching ancient epic traditions with academics to interviewing those with lived experiences of migration. Join us for a conversation about the art of "future-making," resisting...

Join Dash Arts at the Freud Museum in London as we delve into “Leonora Carrington: The Symptomatic Surreal.” Curator Vanessa Boni guides us through Carrington’s turbulent early years—from her life with Max Ernst in France to her wartime breakdown and confinement in a Spanish sanatorium. We explore the haunting "Villa Pilar" and sketchbooks born from crisis, linking Carrington’s mythic imagery to F...

Three years. 80 workshops. One thousand speeches. One pub. As Our Public House takes its final bow, so too does Albion; our long exploration of who we are as a country, and who we might yet become. In this closing episode, Josephine reflects on the whole journey: from a tent in a field at Latitude Festival in 2019 to stages across England, from the first hesitant speeches in community halls and pr...

In this episode of OffScript , Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton heads out into the land itself and into the long, tangled history of who has felt at home there, and who has had to fight to claim it. Join us to explore connection, place, and the ever-evolving landscape of English identity. First, she talks with Toni Murphy, founder of Touching Grass, a community creating space for quee...

In this episode of OffScript , Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Dr. Neil Buttery—food historian, cook, and the voice behind The British Food History Podcast —for a delicious and wide-ranging conversation about the edible stories that define us. Josephine and Neil trace the history of English food from the kitchen outwards, exploring how our national palate has been shaped...

In this episode of OffScript , Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Lynne Murphy, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sussex, author of The Prodigal Tongue , and the American voice behind the long-running blog Separated by a Common Language, for a wide-ranging and surprising conversation about the language we think we own. Josephine and Lynne trace English from its...

In this episode of OffScript , Josephine Burton is joined by historian, journalist, and writer Paula Akpan. A specialist in Black British history and queer identity, Paula brings a vital perspective to our exploration of Albion. Drawing on her acclaimed book, When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors , Paula discusses the power of restoring overlooked narratives to the...

Josephine Burton takes us inside the rehearsal room of Our Public House , Dash Arts' new touring theatre production and the culmination of our series of work on Albion. We join the company during their rehearsals at Toynbee Studios while some of the country heads to the polls in local elections. Assistant Director Scott Hurran shares insights into the collective creation of characters and how comm...

What does Englishness sound like? In this episode of OffScript , Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by musician, songwriter, and activist Billy Bragg for an electric conversation about England - its flags, its contradictions, and its capacity for protest. Billy and Josephine dig into what it means to love a country and argue with it at the same time. They explore the politics...

What makes someone English - and who gets to decide? In this episode of Off Script , Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh, born in India, raised in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, and educated in the UK, whose internationalism has always been at the heart of her practice. Shobana and Josephine explore what Englishness and Britishness actually mean, and...

What does Englishness mean to you? In this episode of OffScript , Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by journalist, writer, and Editor-in-Chief of Byline Times, Hardeep Matharu, for a wide-ranging conversation about the complex and overlooked stories shaping contemporary England. Drawing on her work leading an independent, reader-funded news outlet committed to investigative j...

In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton takes us inside the rehearsal room and into the pub, as she introduces the people and ideas behind Our Public House , Dash Arts' new touring theatre production and the culmination of the Albion series. Josephine reflects on three years of speech-making workshops with over 700 people across the country, from community centr...

In this episode of OffScript, Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Jeremy Deller for a wide-ranging conversation about how art uncovers the contradictions, radical traditions, and hidden stories that shape contemporary England. Jeremy and Josephine reflect on why Englishness remains so slippery to define; how popular culture, folk traditions, and street art reveal who we real...

Welcome to Albion - our exploration of what it means to be English, and what we mean by England. In this episode of OffScript , Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Caroline Lucas for a thoughtful and urgent conversation about Englishness - beyond flags and nostalgia. Drawing on her book Another England , Caroline shares her thoughts on how land, belonging and identity shape...

What does it mean to stay balanced and grounded in a shifting world? This episode of OffScript was recorded live at STEADY , the second event in Dash Arts’ We Are Free To Change The World series. Through live performance and conversation, the evening focused on staying; on staying open without burning out, staying yourself in dialogue without collapsing into agreement or disagreement and staying h...

In this episode of OffScript Josephine Burton is joined by Professor Lyndsey Stonebridge. They delve into Hannah Arendt's belief in collective action as the essence of freedom.  Lyndsey discusses Arendt's life, her impact on political philosophy, and her relevance in contemporary social movements. Exploring how her theories inspire artists and activists today, the conversation highlights Aren...

What does it take to prepare for change — artistically, emotionally, politically?  This episode of OffScript was recorded live at the opening event in Dash Arts’ We Are Free To Change The World series. Through performance and conversation, the event explored the conditions that help artists and creative activists find their ground to listen, to make, to resist, and to come together. Hosted by...

In this episode of We Are Free to Change the World , Dash Arts’ Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by the legendary artist Peter Kennard. Inspired by Hannah Arendt’s belief in our freedom to begin anew, Josephine and Peter examine how art becomes a form of political action—shifting public consciousness, exposing injustice, and giving shape to the possible futures. They discuss the challe...

“ [Dash] reaches beyond the creation of its work and its interpretation of human experience. You go to places that others don't.” For Dash Arts’ 20th anniversary, OffScript host Josephine Burton is joined by one of the UK’s leading champions of justice, Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC. Helena and Josephine explore how the arts and the law shift public imagination, from movements for social justice t...

In the second episode of our mini-series, "We Are Free to Change the World," inspired by Hannah Arendt's call to action, Dash Arts' Artistic Director Josephine Burton is joined by Labour MP for Norwich South, Clive Lewis.  From his House of Commons office, Clive Lewis discusses the struggle for freedom within contemporary politics. The conversation explores his belief that the "only real free...

Through a series of live and digital conversations - we’re exploring how artists and activists challenge, inspire, and motivate us to see the world differently.  Join Josephine Burton as she sits down with musician and artist Ian Bruce and campaigner Clare Farrell to discuss creativity, activism, and the courage to imagine radical change. In this groundbreaking episode, hear how artists are t...