An Essex Cultural Diversity Project and Creative Estuary Co-Commission

The Essex Cultural Diversity Project are delighted to announce that the Time Will Tell Theatre has been commissioned to create a new participatory theatre piece to tell the stories of the Ten Pound Poms, many of whom left England from Tilbury Port to travel to Port Adelaide.

The ‘Ten Pound Pom’ scheme was the colloquial term for the general Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, launched in 1945 to enable British migrants from any British colony to go to Australia for the price of £10. The project seeks to explore the themes and stories of outward migration, to celebrate cultural heritage and legacy.

For their commission, Time Will Tell will work with communities in both Essex and Australia to create a promenade piece of performance around the sites of the Tilbury Port and Port Adelaide, exploring stories of the Ten Pound Poms against a wider background of people throughout history dreaming of travel, of far-off places, of success and happiness, excitement and fulfilment, with a strong focus on to the two key locations.

The piece will explore why we seek out new places to live, the effect it has on us, and the effect it has on the people who are already there. It will celebrate migration and link the historical with the contemporary, to see how attitudes to migration have changed over the years. At a time when immigration, attitudes to migrants and climate change are all features of our modern worldview, Time Will Tell hope to draw out parallels with our current situation and what that might mean for the future.

Ten Pound Poms is an Essex Cultural Diversity Project and Create Estuary co-commission, working in collaboration with Port Enfield Adelaide Council, History Trust of South Australia and Tilbury on the Thames Trust. It is funded by Arts Council England, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport funds the Cultural Development Fund which is administered by Arts Council England.

For further information please visit the Essex Cultural Diversity Project website: essexcdp.com
Twitter: @essex_cdp
Facebook: @EssexCulturalDiversity