Past Projects
Tupumue
TUPUMUE, or let’s breathe in Swahili, is a partnership between LSTM and the Kenya Medical Research Institute and is jointly funded by the National Research Foundation of Kenya and the Medical Research Council of the UK.
Matthew serves as a theatre for development specialist in this project.
For more information about this project, please visit here.
The Festival of Fleeting Words
The Festival of Fleeting Words [formerly The New Writing/New Normal International Theatre Festival] is a quarterly digital new writing festival. Within the 24 hour festival, will create new plays that will be written, rehearsed & performed to a live audience via a digital platform.
imPEACHable
A tribunal play based on the private and public transcripts of the impeachment trial of the President of the United States. The play examines the central tenet of the trials, that is, whether there was a ‘Quid Pro Quo’ offer in a telephone conversation with the US President and the Ukrainian President in July 2019.
The Peacock Theatre Festival of Civil Liberties
The Peacock Theatre Festival of Civil Liberties is a repository of theatrical responses to the ongoing discussions around civil liberties and authoritarianism under the developing lockdown as part of wider solidarity against any such authoritarian creep in the UK and abroad. For more information about this project, please visit here.
The Sanctuary, WriteNow Berlin’s 10-MINUTE PLAYS COMPETITION
In a post-apocalyptic world devastated by the mutated coronavirus, a young guard on the outpost of a gated community tries to help a group of survivors find sanctuary.
Tupumue / Let Us Breathe film for the SEAMHH Breath Symposium
Working with two Kenyan filmmakers, I recently directed a short film, Tupumue / Let Us Breathe film which is a rumination on breath and moments of dealing with breathing, inhaling and exhaling in the informal settlement of Mukuru, outside of Nairobi in Kenya [2020].
Send Them All Back
Britain isn’t working and something has to be done. The government, after getting unprecedented political consensus, has instructed that all the people in Britain who aren’t British have to go. Especially if they’re European.
Utopia Theatre Creative Hub Workshop
The Creative Hub brought together some of the world’s leading African theatre experts who shared their knowledge and experience through workshops and events. As a theatre director, I was commissioned to facilitate a devising
workshop adapted for the new normal of creating via Zoom.
The Robben Island Bible
The ‘Robben Island Bible’ is the name that has been given to South African Sonny Venkatratham’s copy of ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare’. He smuggled this book into the notorious Apartheid-era political prison by persuading his warders that it was a religious Hindu ‘Bible.’ He then surreptitiously passed it to a number of his fellow political prisoners in the single cells. Each of them marked his favourite passage in the ‘Complete Works’ and signed it with the date.
AIR Network: International Theatre and Development – Working with non-traditional theatre makers: AIR Network (Air Pollution and Interdisciplinary Research) Network, Mukuru, Nairobi, Kenya.
I am a co-investigator on the project “The AIR Network: Action for interdisciplinary air pollution research. It aims to look at possible community-led solutions to air pollution in the country. The project has build a transdisciplinary team and programme of work to support and expand the work being done in Kenya to record and tackle sources of air pollution and peoples’ exposure to them in informal settlements.
The Monobox Maker’s Workshop
A workshop entitled ‘Is 2020 the new 1984?’ where we creatively discussed and actioned artistic responses to the ongoing [and future] limitations on our civil liberties due to Corona Virus measures.
Interactive Theatre Workshop – University of West London
Matthew has co-facilitated an interactive theatre workshop at UWL to examine leadership strategies to improve the patient experience in mental health for the department of Leadership, Midwifery, Substance Misuse and Healthcare Education.
AkomaAsa Performing Arts Academy
Matthew co-facilitated an online interactive workshop on racism.
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ubVERSE
subVERSE- A unique blend of political satire, comedy and drama from new British and American writers to audiences in London and Edinburgh.
Commedia dell’Arte Workshop (Folkestone)
A week-long workshop of Commedia dell’Arte exploration, produced by Matthew Hahn and facilitated will by Mitch Mitchelson, funded by the Arts Council.
Memories of Mandela – British Museum
Staged in the auditorium officially opened by Nelson Mandela in 2000, this discussion celebrates and explores the life, character and enduring legacy of the South African leader on his nation and the world.
Art Know No Boundaries: Cross Cultural Bridge Building through a Transnational Arts Project
Matthew together with artists Lungile Dlamini & Marius Botha has developed a programme of cultural exchange between young people in the UK and young people in South Africa. The students spent 10 days in Durban, South Africa to deliver & participate in community workshops and drama productions.
South African High Commission Heritage Month Symposium
Matthew was asked to participate in a symposium at South Africa House in Central London and asked to explore and assess South Africa’s living heritage as an important part in promoting cultural diversity, social cohesion, reconciliation, peace and economic development.
Tis a Mad World in Hoxton
A one-man performance by Jack Klaff of a long poem from 1609, entitled Pimlyco; ‘tis a mad world at Hoxton, and a talk and discussion of its importance led by Dr. Peter Howell at Hoxton Hall.
Park Road Pilot
A live digest of drama, dance and music performances with artworks, which emerged in September 2005. It provided artists with a guest audience in a bureaucracy-free environment for experimental productions and exhibits. Followed by a party, it generated feedback, conversation, inspiration and collaboration. It raised money for a different charity each month through an entrance charge and an informal bar.
Disabled People Against Cuts
In November 2013, Matthew Hahn facilitated a theatrical performance at the Houses of Parliament which focused on the effects of the welfare reforms and austerity measures on the rights of disabled people.
Amnesty International’s Interactive Theatre Workshop
In this workshop, the AI training teachers wanted to examine two aspects of their work: that of gender imbalance and that of competing belief systems within schools. The overall aim of the work was to develop strategies in dealing with discrimination within the school between teachers and students as well as between staff and staff.
‘I too, remember dust’: Peace-building, Politics & the Arts’ Conference, Winchester University 7th September 2015 – 8th September 2015
The title of the conference, “I too, remember dust” is inspired by a poem from the acclaimed Romanian-Jewish poet Paul Celan, a survivor of Auschwitz, a title which invokes a haunting image of any conflict and suffering from around the world.
‘Ping’ for Peace
On the 23rd of July 2006, US born peace activist Matthew Hahn set out on a three week bicycle ride from London to Prague in protest against George W. Bush & Tony Blair’s ‘WAR ON TERROR’
