A local history study

(Please use this section alongside the Geography exercises in 1 Human Geography - Fieldwork (a) Exploring the locality )

One of the inspirations for Jumping on my Shadow (the writing and the design) is the area around Brick Lane in East London…

Brick Lane and the surrounding area has been the first port of call for poor immigrants and refugees arriving in the UK for many years…

First the Protestant Huguenots fleeing persecution in Catholic France in the 17th Century onwards…. Then Jewish refugees escaping from pogroms (ethnic cleansing) in central and eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th Century…. And finally Bengalis seeking a new life in Britain from the 1970’s onwards….

Of course, the history of local immigration into Brick Lane and Whitechapel is much more complex than this…. For example, many Bengali men worked sailor/militiamen for the British Empire from the C17th. They were known as Lascars and came to Brick Lane in the last century. Mr Miah’s character is drawn partly from the history of these Bengali sailors…

Sometimes different people have lived side by side….

….but in general, the changing history of the Brick Lane area is epitomised by a particular building which began as Huguenot Church, became a Synagogue, and finally a Mosque in more recent times….

http://spitalfieldslife.com/2013/04/14/the-huguenots-of-spitalfields/

Spitalfields Great Synagogue by John Allin (1934-1991)

A Huguenot house from the design research undertaken for Jumping on my Shadow by Nettie Scriven

A Huguenot house Princelet Street taken by Nettie Scriven when designing the production

The last jewish shop in Brick Lane. The arch influenced Nettie Scriven’s set design for the play

The writer’s grandfather, an refugee from Belarus, outside his chemist’s shop in Brick Lane during World War 2

[Children] Brick Lane Jamme Masjid Mosque c. 1976

Children in Brick Lane today

Food has always been important as a way for each group of people living in Brick Lane to express themselves and their culture…

In the play, bread is used as a metaphor for the richness of cultural diversity…

What kinds of food are special to the area where you live? Have these changed over time, as different people have moved into the area? Or has the ‘local food’ stayed the same for many years? Can you identify where all the foods you eat come from, locally or from around the world? Can you create a meal representing all the nationalities and particular tastes of everyone in your class? What is ‘British food’?....