We Come from Far, Far Away

Inside the tent is a smaller tent, and in that smaller tent sits a young boy. He has come a long way, mostly on his own. He can show what he took with him,
explain why he set out on the journey and he can describe where he travelled, but how his story will end, he cannot say…

The performance We Come from Far, Far Away tells a story about two young boys from Aleppo travelling across Europe to Norway. Against the backdrop of a
journey through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany… and onwards to Oslo, they tell stories about people, things and places, but also about life and death.

Designed for younger audiences (10+) as well as adults, the performance about seeking refuge is performed inside a Mongolian yurt. Through live music, storytelling, clowning, shadow theatre and a small tent, NIE tells a big story from an intimate distance. The NIE Theatre ensemble created the project We Come from Far, Far Away in cooperation with the Norwegian refugee centre, Hvalstad Transittmottak. It served as the first reception point for young refugees (aged 13-18) who came to Norway without their parents, in hopes of asylum. The refugees we met were mostly from Syria and Afghanistan and had made their journey to Norway alone. The performance was made in cooperation with these young people and in cooperation with Abdallah Didar Badleh and Ālireza Hussaini.

With We Come from Far, Far Away we wanted to create a dialogue with children and families about children that flee alone, in the form of a theatre performance. The context for this production is connected to the current crisis in Syria, but aims to say something more universal about refuge and refugees. Keywords for this production are fear, separation and death as well as friendship survival and hope!

About the company

Formed in 2001, NIE rehearsed its first three shows in a small town Mšeno in the north of the Czech Republic. Since then, NIE has gone on to create new performances in co-production with different venues and theatre companies from Czech Republic, Norway, UK, across Europe and beyond, including site-specific work and theatre for younger audiences.

NIE Theatre makes award-winning theatre performances through a mix of physical theatre, multiple languages, live music and storytelling via an eclectic European ensemble. Since NIE’s inception, the company has created 39 new shows and has performed in 42 countries across four continents.

Since the premiere in 2016, We Come from Far, Far Away has had over 400 performances in venues, festivals and schools in Norway, Czech Republic, Australia, Sweden, UK, Austria, Ireland, Slovenia, Denmark, Poland… NIE Theatre is currently preparing several European tours with the performance We Come from Far, Far Away both throughout 2025 and in 2026-27. We will tour in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic and Norway.

The show is played in different language versions – Czech, English, Norwegian and now newly also in German language!

In case you are interested to programme our show to your venue or festival, please take contact with us.

Award

Winner of the Hedda Award 2017 – best performance
for young audiences in Norway.

Press quotes

“World class storytelling.” Periskop.no

“With twists of wily humor, some atmospheric live music and the honest details of brutal experiences…Unconditional friendship, like courage and hope, accompanies every step of this powerfully affecting journey.” The Herald

“Outstanding piece of theatre” Glam Adelaide

“Funny, imaginative, inventive and sad… you’re in for something pretty special. A
harrowing and heartbreaking tale of a crisis that isn’t happening nearly as far away
as we think.” The Wee Review