Questions for Michael Walling (Artistic Director)
Q: Why was it important to make youth involvement such a central part of this 30th anniversary celebration?
Michael: We’ve always said that our work is about building a better future. Our theatre is a space of intercultural dialogue which builds understanding and encourages empathy: it’s about real exchange, both on a rational and an emotional level, with the aim of generating mutual understanding and real, participatory democracy. There’s no point celebrating a heritage of that kind of work if you don’t also look to generating a legacy.
Q: How do you see the voices of young people contributing to the ongoing story of Border Crossings?
Michael: As the company has got older, its audiences have got younger, and that’s a mark of how relevant this kind of work feels to rising generations. Our ORIGINS projects around Indigenous cultures have been particularly significant in offering young people the possibility of other ways of living which don’t depend on the destructive forces they perceive in our current systems. They are very aware of the urgent need for change, whether that’s in relation to climate, justice or social pressures. What we’ve been trying to model in our theatre is a shared space of exchange where those kinds of ideas can be tried our and communicated. The next stage is for younger people to put them into practice. That will need different approaches, and I hope we can continue to facilitate that. Our next piece, SUPPLIANTS OF SYRIA, is actually an experiment in participatory democracy, and young people will be central to the process.
Q: When looking back at three decades of intercultural performance, what do you hope this new generation takes away from that legacy?
Michael: I hope our work offers them an understanding of other cultures, including those that at first glance may seem very alien. Theatre is like a giant empathy machine: it helps you to see the other on a human level, to relate to them emotionally. So the first answer to your question is an archive of mutual understanding and productive dialogue. Then that gets coupled with a powerful drive towards justice – social, cultural, environmental – which really strikes a chord with younger people. They aren’t content to accept entrenched inequalities, and I think our work is helpful to them in understanding how those unjust structures have been generated through history, and how the sharing of different understandings can help us find our way out of them.
Q: How did you and the creative team support students in engaging with such a rich and complex theatrical archive?
Michael: It’s fascinating! We offered each group a set of projects to look at, sharing our archive videos, scripts, and supporting materials like articles and discussions. Then we brought in an artist who’d worked with us on the project – people from the specific cultures in the particular collaboration. That was really important, as it started them thinking about who they are in relation to this material. They can’t represent (say) Indigenous Australians on stage – but having encountered them, they can represent the relationship and its complexities.
Q: In what ways did the young performers surprise or challenge you during the creative process?
Michael: The great joy of working with young people is the speed with which their neurons fire, their amazing ability to make connections between apparently unconnected areas. A 6th form group responded to our play CONSUMED, which is about a love affair between two people who don’t speak the same language, with a piece about teenage flirtation over social media, complete with a performer playing the role of Google Translate. It’s very funny – and it’s also a genuine insight into the workings of their massively mediated world. I’m loving the way they take the material into their own lives, and so reflect it back to us in ways we would never have imagined.
Questions for Young Performers / Schools Involved
What was it like to explore thirty years of Border Crossings’ theatre and then create something entirely your own?
It was really interesting and I would say innovative as well. We learned the history of BC but then the process turned to us and we got to create something ourselves
It was fun to research the previously made plays and see what we could take inspiration from instead of being given a script and creating.
I like how diverse the productions are and how they are a bit of everything, It’s really nice to see different types and plays and how you work. BC accepted us for who we are and valued our ideas
It was meaningful as we got to appreciate the company as they have worked with different peoples and places. We felt that they have a passion for discovering and that all shows had been done for a reason and there was meaning and purpose in each show.
Was there a particular story or performance from the archive that resonated with you?
Consumed was relatable to our society
I feel the Gaza Monologues exploring something taboo gave me an understanding of what is happening in the world
Dilemma of a Ghost interested me as it would give the chance to explore another culture and learn about
How does it feel to be part of a project that celebrates such an important milestone in intercultural storytelling?
We feel empowered, honoured, grateful and included
This feels like a stepping stone and a chance to network with people who have worked with the company for 30 years
I’ll going to tell my kids!
We’re inspiration now!
The chance to work with Michael and Lucy to help our piece has been inspirational and the chance to experience a professional rehearsal space.
What did you learn about collaboration, culture, or performance through this experience?
I learned that not everyone will have the same idea as you but after it is put into motion working
How to work in a professional industry and the opportunity to raise standards to a professional level. This raised the stakes and made us up our game.
If you could imagine Border Crossings 30 years from now, what do you hope it might look like?
I would hope that it would be like this: to have the opportunities to work with different people. The drive to work together to do something important
I imagine BC to be even larger than it is now across the country and the world. Bigger and better and widening the reach.
CHECKPOINT: 30 Years of Border Crossings
Mon 1 Sep 2025 – Sun 31 May 2026
Since its foundation in 1995, Border Crossings has collaborated with artists and communities across the world, from Inuit performers to Syrian refugees, from London’s Latin American and Māori communities to partners in China, India, Ghana and beyond. We have built a remarkable body of theatre, film, festivals and community projects that embrace cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.
