MEDIATHEK

A Shoe Full of Stars follows the journey of Splodge, an ordinary teenager who, after a terrorist attack, suddenly finds himself on a bizarre, magical island where conflict is bubbling up everywhere, and nothing is as it seems.
 
 Composer Omar Shahryar, writer Ed Harris and director Ruth Mariner worked together with secondary school students from North Huddersfield Trust School and two professional opera singers to co-create the most pertinent story, music and artistic vision to sensitively engage teenagers with the challenging subject of terrorism and its effects. The project was planned with the guidance of the Active Change Foundation, a world-leading extremist-prevention charity.
 
 The artistic team conducted group dialogues with the teenage participants for 6 weeks, gathering opinions and insights on the subject of terrorism, which Ed Harris transformed into a compelling libretto. The students of North Huddersfield Trust School had never heard or seen an opera before, had little or no musical training and had never participated in any kind of large creative process. Several were going through difficult life challenges in school or at home.
 
 Performances were followed by a panel discussion on the subject of violent extremism, including speakers from: the Active Change Foundation, Oxford University's Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict; local Community Police Officers.