Am I Free Yet?
What is freedom? A dream, an illusion, a shifting state of mind? Does yours come at the cost of mine? Will we ever truly be free?
Am I Free Yet? was a theatre production and photography exhibition created by the Hidden Spire Collective, a participatory art group based at the Old Fire Station. The collective brings people together from different walks of life; many have lived experience of homelessness and first came to the Old Fire Station through Crisis, many grew up outside of the UK, and many have lived in Oxford all their lives.
Developing ideas and deciding on a creative focus
The Our Freedom project began in June, meeting weekly for creative workshops and discussion sessions. With the support of four visiting Oxford academics specialising in history, health, and social sciences, the group explored what life would have been like in 1945 in relation to these themes, and how they experience them today. These conversations sparked a rich collection of poetry and imagery, which inspired a performance bringing all their ideas together. Co‑creation sat at the heart of the project. The group determined what they wanted to say about freedom and how they wished to express it. They chose to create a theatre performance and, working with facilitator Lizzy McBain, developed an open call for an artist. The group were involved in shortlisting and interviewing applicants, and selected theatre maker Polly Tisdall as lead artist.
Co-creating a performance
Over eight weekly sessions, the group danced, dressed up, devised characters, shared favourite freedom songs, and sang together. In the first phase, they listened to Simon Armitage’s poem Freedom Road and had lots of strong opinions about whether it represented their ideas of freedom. They wanted to create a performance responding to the poem and exploring the promises made to people at the end of the Second World War, and what has happened to those promises since.
They envisioned a show that took audiences on a journey through different recognisable scenes from communities over the last 70 years: a community party, a garden, a GP surgery, a park bench. One discussion centred on what Freedom Road would look like, if it existed, and if it would be a road at all. Perhaps it would be more like a maze? Experimenting with how to represent this physically on stage, the group discovered their ‘grid’ – a series of lines along which we can journey, seeking freedom, but which itself keeps us contained. Some characters are journeying physically on this grid – from one geographical place to another, while others are journeying within their own minds. And some characters have more power on the grid than others.
After four weeks of devising, the group’s improvisations, characters, and writing were brought together into a script, which the group then responded to and refined.
Building an exhibition
Photographer Sam Ivin created portraits of each cast member in character. Alongside these images, the group wrote or drew from their character’s perspective about what freedom meant to them. The exhibition will be displayed in the Old Fire Station gallery from March to October 2026.
“My poems are me putting my feelings and opinions into words. I didn’t expect people to understand because when does the topic of freedom ever come up? No one sits around the table and says ‘Oh, let’s discuss freedom.’ I wrote how freedom is a bubble you can pop anytime. We’re so conditioned to be part of the system. I didn’t say it directly but I tried to show it in the way the poem was structured. I expected it to pass people by. I was really surprised at the interest in it.”
“On the day of the performance, just before it started, I was behind the curtains and I wanted to see the audience. I had a look and my heart started pounding. I wasn’t expecting the whole place to be so full. I felt very nervous but luckily Jodie was by my side and said ‘We can do it. Don’t worry. It’s my first time too.’ After the performance was over, I went to the washroom and audience members said things like ‘Oh, you were so good.’ I gave my maximum effort but I was still surprised at the compliments. The following week, the project was reviewed and I was asked for my thoughts. I said ‘It’s perfect, it’s brilliant and there’s nothing I would’ve changed along the way.’ I asked ‘When are we going to start the next one?’ I’m feeling good and I’m ready for more. I’m the project’s number one advocate. There’s something so beautiful over here, everyone should experience it.”
View more on the venue's website