It’s an 8km swim from Güzelçamli, Turkey to the Greek Island of Samos. That’s 160 lengths of an Olympic sized swimming pool.
Complete darkness, a vast sea, 8kms, the distance many undertake in search of asylum in Europe. SWIM is an immersive audio-haptic experience that imagines the physical, mental and spiritual challenges of this treacherous passage as it meditates upon the emotional toll of displacement. Harnessing cutting-edge technologies to simulate audio and tactile sensations, the audience experiences much of the piece in darkness plunged into immersive audio, haptic technology and tactile sensorium.
Drawing loose inspiration from the epic Arabic story of Laila and Majnun (most famously recorded by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi), SWIM invites audiences to imagine what feelings one moves through as they endure the fatigue of this perilous crossing. It meditates on the question: When one is driven to leave their love, their life, their home - what parts of oneself must die to move forward?
“SWIM is a profoundly moving experience, and an extraordinary example of how technology can be used to create moving, narrative-first, immersive storytelling.”
Katrina Lat | No Proscenium
Creative Team
Created and Produced by Jivesh Parasram, Tom Arthur Davis, David Mesiha, & Gavan Cheema
Written by Jivesh Parasram & Tom Arthur Davis
Directed by David Mesiha & Gavan Cheema
Music & Sound Design by David Mesiha
Accessibility Consultant: Amy Amantea
Performer: Jivesh Parasram
Produced by Theatre Conspiracy and Pandemic Theatre
SummerWorks Workshop Performers: Tsholo Khalema, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, & Sally Zori
Special thanks to Tim Carlson for original script dramaturgy
“Drew me into a space of both discomfort and awareness… As my body felt the simulated crash of a wave, I saw the luminous light of the moon and felt caught in that breathless void between hope and despair, between stamina and surrender.”
Kristy Kassie | Vocal Eye
Production History
January 2025 • PuSh International Performing Arts Festival • Vancouver, BC
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, The Cultch, Touchstone Theatre, 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, the Government of Canada, The City of Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, and the Hamber Foundation.
