Schedule in some uncontrollable laughter with No Direction Home — an evening of live stand-up comedy presented by Counterpoints Arts at Dartington Trust’s Great Hall, in Totnes, Devon. Laugh alongside our host, Exeter-based award-winning comedian Tom Parry, as he introduces guest celebrities and new hilarious voices.

The No Direction Home comedy collective, produced by Counterpoints Arts, supports people from refugee and migrant backgrounds to learn the skills of stand-up. Founded in 2018, in partnership with Camden People’s Theatre and comedian Tom Parry, they’ve since performed sell-out gigs around the country including at London’s Southbank Centre and the Edinburgh Fringe, alongside leading comedians including Nish Kumar, Rogesh Ramananthan, Suzi Ruffell, Fatiha El-Ghorri and Athena Kugblenu. New No Direction Home collectives have been established in Coventry and Greece.

The full lineup of comedians for the night:

• Tom Parry is a screenwriter, director, comedian and podcaster. He is one-third of the award-winning ‘Pappy’s’, nominated twice for the Edinburgh Comedy Award, and has performed two sell-out solo shows at the Edinburgh Fringe — ‘Parryoke’ in 2019 and ‘Yellow T-Shirt’ in 2015. Tom was a co-founder of the No Direction Home comedy collective produced by Counterpoints Arts.
• Emily Bampton is an exciting new voice in comedy, recently shortlisted for BBC New Comedian of the Year 2022. She performs improvised comedy with the legendary Oxford Imps and is working on her first pilot for a comedy drama series, Cash Grab. 
• Loraine Mponela, a migrants rights campaigner based in Coventry and originally from Malawi, joined the No Direction Home comedy collective in 2021 and has since performed several gigs including a sold-out show at London’s Southbank Centre. 
• Suchandrika Chakrabarti writes for Radio 4’s The News Quiz and The Now Show and debuted her comedy show “I Miss Amy Winehouse” at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. She also co-hosts the comedy podcast, But Is It Funny?, produced by Counterpoints Arts.
• Yasmeen Audisho Ghrawi is a Queer Iraqi/Syrian/Assyrian performer and theatre-maker who, after a lifetime of censorship, is emerging to share joy, pleasure, and hairy relics of wisdom and truth. She’s been a member of the No Direction Home comedy collective since 2020, and has performed her solo show “From the Daughter of a Dictator” around the country including the Weapons of Mass Hilarity Comedy Festival.

Alongside this event, Tom Parry has been running a series of No Direction Home comedy workshops with asylum seekers in Plymouth, in collaboration with Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support.

This comedy night is presented alongside Counterpoints’ Pop Culture & Social Change Retreat at Dartington Hall (12-14 October), bringing together a group of 50 change-making entertainment producers, artists, cultural innovators, activists and philanthropists committing to building long-term narrative power for Black, POC, migrant and refugee communities.

Details:

• Wednesday, 12th October, 8-10pm
• Dartington’s’ Great Hall, Totnes TQ9 6EL, United Kingdom
• Tickets £10 [50% of proceeds to be donated to Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support]
• Ages 16+, wheelchair accessible (for further accessibility requirements, email boxoffice@dartington.org)

BOOK ONLINE VIA DARTINGTON TRUST

// 

Counterpoints Arts is a leading UK organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change. It’s mission is to support and produce the arts by and about migrants and refugees, seeking to ensure that their contributions are recognized and welcomed within British arts, history and culture. Its PopChange Initiative explores how to pop culture for social change, shifting narratives about migration and displacement.

Dartington Trust, founded in 1925, is a thriving visitor destination and charity supporting learning in arts, ecology and social justice, set on a beautiful 1,200 acre estate in the South Devon countryside. Throughout its history it has drawn leading artists and thinkers including Bernard Leach, composer Igor Stravinsky, cellist Jacqueline du Pre, musician Ravi Shankar, playwright Bernard Shaw and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.