Transitions Catalogue Digital Edition

What They Took
With Them
Video, monitors, colour and sound (stereo)
Duration: 00:05:00
2016
What They Took With Them: A List is a poem written by Jenifer Toksvig for Moving
Stories, a fundraising concert of writing and poetry which was staged at the
National Theatre in the Lyttelton, in 2016. The concert was produced by Emma
Manton, who was moved to support the United Nations’ refugee charity UNHCR
after seeing the now infamous image of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi and other children’s
bodies washed up on the beaches of Greece.
The poem was inspired by stories and first-hand testimonies from refugees
forced to flee their homes and items they took with them. The poem was based
on verbatim and historic reports of what refugees chose to take with them when
they fled. Much of the inspiration for it came from photographer Brian Sokol’s
extraordinary photo series The Most Important Thing made in collaboration with
UNHCR. Many of Brian’s photos, along with first-hand accounts from the refugees
he photographed, are featured in the film.
From that show, the poem was made into a short film featuring UNHCR Ambassador
Cate Blanchett. Blanchett performs the rhythmic poem ‘What They Took With
Them’ alongside fellow actors Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Capaldi,
Stanley Tucci, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kit Harington, Douglas Booth, Jesse Eisenberg and
Neil Gaiman.
Jenifer Toksvig
Jenifer Toksvig is a writer, lyricist and musical theatre maker. She has written and
collaborated on many shows including: The Stones Are Hatching (adapted from the
novel by Geraldine McCaughrean), The Queen of Snow (inspired by Hans Christian
Andersen’s The Snow Queen), and Hitler’s Canary (adapted from the novel by Sandi
Toksvig) with Alexander Rudd. Toksvig and Rudd are also prolific song writers whose
work has been recorded in Britain by musical theatre performers such as Julie
Atherton, Michael Xavier, Claire Moore and Niamh Perry, and in L.A. by jazz singers
such as Richard Shelton at Columbia Records. With her theatre company, The
Copenhagen Interpretation, Jenifer also directs and produces, developing devised,
immersive, transmedia musical theatre which directly engages the audience.
www.acompletelossforwords.com