An edited transcript from an online learning event featuring Hamzeh Al Hussien and Amy Golding discussing the experiences, triumphs and challenges touring their play Penguin (performed and co-created by Hamzeh, directed and co-created by Amy) across the UK and internationally. With Alia Alzougbi (CEO and Artistic Director, Shubbak) and Matt Burman (Cambridge Junction) also sharing their perspectives on the intersections of displacement, disability and touring. Translation support came from Yasmeen Ghrawi.
The event was commissioned and presented as part of the Platforma Festival (October 2025) produced by Counterpoints Arts.
Hamzeh Al Hussien
With Penguin I wanted to showcase what disabled people can do and highlight the different experiences of disability I faced in my village growing up in Syria, in a refugee camp in Jordan, and the UK. I endured bullying and people staring from childhood, and even when I arrived in the UK. And so I wanted to reclaim the word “penguin” from a derogatory term used to insult me as a child into a symbol of empowerment and accomplishment as an actor. As a disabled artist I found it difficult at first to say what I needed, or talk about when I was in pain, as I was used to just getting on with it.
Amy Golding
As a company we worked to put in place support systems suitable for Hamzeh as a disabled artist creating autobiographical work. We focussed on access needs and well-being, establishing working agreements that we revisited as Hamzeh’s confidence grew and he was more able to ask for what he needed. We made sure the whole team discussed their access and neurodiversity needs to create a supportive environment. Additionally, we engaged Little Cog for disability training, utilised an Arabic speaking assistant director for direct support and communication, and our movement director, Nadia, created tailored physical training videos with Hamzeh. While specific venue access riders were minimal, the pre-work involving careful selection of venues, hotels, and scheduling was crucial for Hamzeh’s needs. We intentionally spaced out the tour over a year to allow for rest and recovery.
Hamzeh
Being able to drive my own car made things much easier. It gave me freedom and meant I could avoid uncomfortable public transport experiences.
Amy
Travel could be difficult. Rigid rules for booking airport buggies prevented able-bodied companions from joining – forcing Hamzeh to choose between walking long distances or being pushed in a wheelchair, both of which were uncomfortable. We also faced issues with hotel rooms, where accessible rooms often provided showers instead of baths, which Hamzeh needed for safety. It’s also important to recognize the wider systemic challenges Hamzeh was facing – with the added stress of navigating housing, immigration, and legal systems as a new artist in the UK, and someone for whom English is not their first language.
Hamzeh
Just before our first performance I was made homeless and made to live in a totally unsuitable and non-accessible hotel, which was very stressful.
Amy
Allies have a crucial role to play at these times. Cultural organizations rallied round, we wrote an open letter and Little Cog were able to provide financial support for alternative accommodation.
Hamzeh
Overall this has been an amazing experience for me. My main learning has been to have the confidence to ask for what I need and to be myself; the show’s tagline is “Be Proud, Be Who You Are, Be more Penguin,” and that represents a lot to me.
Amy
My main learning is – Don’t always wait for artists to have to ask, put things in place that we know have been helpful before. If they don’t need it at the moment. That’s fine. Better it was there. Be less reactive. Always have another person with an eye on access when you are in artistic flow/ process. Make no assumptions as to what ‘Accessible’ rooms/ spaces/ theatres/transfers etc mean – do research. Ask for specifics – individual needs are all different.
Alia Alzougbi
I really connect with Hamzeh’s experiences and recognise them in my own, as someone who became disabled in adulthood. I have had that experience of being stared at as a disabled person and have come to understand the importance of owning one’s identity. It is interesting to consider the fluidity of solutions in the Global South regarding accessibility, where a collective societal approach often ensures needs are met, even if it means accepting help that might not be explicitly needed.
I have also been reflecting on the intersection of disability and displacement, drawing parallels between the struggles of disabled individuals and refugees, with that common experience that “nothing comes easy for us”. I think it is important to emphasise the problematic societal expectation for disabled and displaced individuals to be “superhuman” or “exceptional” to matter; we really need to assert that everyone matters regardless of their abilities or circumstances.
I really like the concept of “access intimacy,” where care is practiced as an act of intimacy, allowing for non-formalized access support. At Shubbak we learned a great deal from our Sync Arabi project, which involved Palestinian and Jordanian disabled artists working together in Jordan and then performing in the UK, highlighting the effort to create culturally sensitive and consensual ways of working with disabled artists across different contexts.
Matt Burman
We’re so excited to be hosting performances of Penguin at Cambridge Junction – it really aligns with Cambridge Junction’s programming strategy, which prioritizes work by global majority, disabled, and LGBTQ+ artists and producers. Our approach as a venue is to focus on supporting work that can “disrupt and linger,” meaning art that explores form, challenges perspectives, and fosters long-term relationships with artists through residencies and future presentations.
Our work with “Create Cambridge” and “Innovate Cambridge” aims to foster conversation between universities, communities, and the innovation sector to redefine the city’s identity and sense of place. We believe that curiosity leads to compassion, which in turn fosters inclusivity and belonging, especially within Cambridge’s transient population Artists are crucial for public engagement, translating research into accessible stories that foster connection and welcome people to the city.
The Junction was established in 1990 as a venue for young people and has a long history of prioritizing youth, leading to the creation of “Total Arts,” a group for young disabled creatives. We recognise that venues need to support artists by asking right at the start about their needs—physical, financial, and time-related—to ensure they can create their best work, particularly allowing sufficient time for disabled artists to develop their projects.
About Penguin
Full of humour and beauty, Hamzeh Al-Hussien’s extraordinary story takes you on a personal tour of the places he knows best: his village in the Syrian mountains, the Za’atari camp in Jordan, Gateshead and inside his mind, a place full of music, dancing, fantasies and marbles. Hamzeh invites the audience to be his childhood friends, to hold up the moon to light his way into his dreams, brushing the dust from his clothes…and taking the stage.
“From dodging bombs to dancing in nightclubs, Syrian theatre-maker Hamzeh Al Hussien enacts the story of his life”
★★★★ The Guardian
About the panel
Hamzeh Al Hussien was first introduced to performing during his six years in a refugee camp having been displaced from Syria, where he trained with a Spanish NGO in physical theatre. He performed in various productions there and facilitated drama and theatre projects with disabled children in the camp. In 2018 he joined the Arriving project, Curious Monkey’s ongoing creative project for people seeking sanctuary. He won “Best Newcomer” for Penguin in the North East Culture Awards 2023.
Amy Golding is an artist, activist, facilitator and consultant. As an artist she makes theatre and works across art forms to create joyful pop-up experiences. Whilst completing a Clore Cultural Leadership Fellowship she founded Curious Monkey – a Theatre Company of Sanctuary that specialised in creating socially relevant productions, for which it became a significant company in the north east and across the UK. Amy was Artistic Director & Joint CEO there for 12 years. She has now stepped into a new phase of her career as a freelance multidisciplinary artist.
Alia Alzougbi is a Syrian-Lebanese disabled cultural strategist, artist and facilitator working at the intersection of art and social and environmental justice. She is CEO and Artistic Director of Shubbak (meaning ‘window’ in Arabic) which supports and celebrates the diversity of Arab and South West Asian & North African (SWANA) artists’ creativity and innovation through its professional, participatory and engagement programmes, national touring and biennial multi-artform festival. Among Shubbak’s initiatives has been Sync Arabi, a disabled leadership intensive residential for disabled cultural workers from the SWANA region in partnership with Sync Leadership and Art 2 Heart Palestine funded by British Council.
Matt Burman has been Artistic Director and Chief Executive at Cambridge Junction since 2018. He previously worked as an Independent Producer and Programmer for clients including London International Festival of Theatre and Leeds City Council. Prior to that, he held positions including Artistic Director at Yorkshire Festival, Head of Programme at Warwick Arts Centre and Executive Producer at Norfolk & Norwich Festival. Among the initiatives at Cambridge Junction is Total Arts, a fortnightly participation group for disabled young people aged 13-25.
