Creative Critics: Salt, Stage@Leeds

Mehvesh Hussain

On the stage @ Leeds University, Selina Thompsons performance was absolutely amazing. SALT stands for the salt in the ocean and healing. We saw a big salt rock that I think relates to the sea. I liked this performance because I could tell what she was talking about and I didn’t get confused at any point. There were some funny bits which I didn’t get but at the end I got them. I felt emotional when she said she got adopted because she felt sad but she didn’t cry which I expected she would. There were some rued words in in the performance which was shocking. I liked the bit when she was breaking a rock because she was showing her anger at the men. There was calm music and a point that it nearly made me fall asleep. I think it was and autobiography because she was talking about her own life and her feelings that she had. I think this meant that people shouldn’t be raciest to other people. We all should be treated the same way.

Arzoo Tanveer

The show was long, but It was okay. There was lots of emotions and certain bits of it that made me want to cry. Selina also explained that she named the performance SALT because salt cures wounds. Some bits I thought were a little bit too extreme because she was using a destructive mallet and destroying a salt rock. I think Selina was sending a message and that was that racism is very offensive and it hurts people’s feelings. Another thing that I thought it meant was that there is no point in being unfair, offensive and racist when you know that we are really all equal.

I would definitely recommend this show to others.

Attique Muhammad

When I sat on my seat Selina started making us laugh and making us shocked. I like the bit where she starts to break the rock and saying the people name who she was angry with. I know she was cross.

I didn’t like the fact that Selina was the only one that was performing on stage. It was about Selina Thomsons’ life. The meaning of salt is healing in water. Selina made me surprised because of the language she used.

Haaris

At Leeds University 5G went to see the show of Salina Thompson called Salt. It was interesting because while she was smashing some rocks she was talking. When she did it there were bits of SALT, not the salt in food like on your chips, but the salt that is in salt water. So that is why I didn’t get the theme of story. She was alone on the stage and this is called a monologue which was only a little bit dull. The rest was interesting. I can’t say it was really boring and I can’t say it was the best of the shows. There were some strong comments but you should be mature enough to understand it like I did.

Haleema

Yesterday afternoon 5G were so lucky that we went to the stage @ university to see Salina Thompson. She was brave and funny. In the show she was talking about her life I felt sorry for her because people used to be racist to her. Selina lived in Birmingham and she was adopted. Everyone was quite interested in the show. I got shocked because she was breaking the stone so she could express her feelings. I love it, I wish I could see it again. I thought it was quite emotional because she was talking about real things. I liked it best when she made a small sea and she showed everyone her family.

Kailen Bellanfante

Yesterday was amazing because it was very interesting. I was watching Salt by Selina Thompson. I like it because she was expressing her feelings. She repeated her lines when she was smashing the rocks. She had a sledge hammer bigger than a table and Selina had a big salt rock. When she smashed it it I felt that she was angry. I thought the wall there was white rubber but it was white bricks, actually it was made of rock at the end she dropped rock in a tub full of water then she washed her face with it.

Hassam

Selina Thompson preformed at Leeds University. SALT represents the ocean and when you put salt on fish and chips. She started to perform in school at age 11 and she stared as a professional at age 22. It was all about slavery and travelling. There was salt bricks that were put it in a line and she started breaking them. She did not change her costume that was white. They put a little box with water and rock salt in it. She said people don’t respect her and they have been very racist. She reads a lot of books and she goes to live music and she does performing with only one lady on stage.

Sakar Saleh

It was a life changing moment when I found out we were going to watch SALT.I felt shocked because of the frightening sound of her smashing the salt rock also I felt uncomfortable because I am not used to the fact that there would be only one person on the stage at the theatre. On the other hand I felt unhappy because of how racist people were and how they treated Selina Thompson and other black people. It made me feel surprised because of their language. The meaning of SALT is getting better.

Sameer Ali

This performance was truly powerful emotionally and verbally. The show was based on a true story as Selina discusses her experience through slavery and a chance for people to hear how black people feel when other people are being racist. This was like a verbal autobiography about Selina going through a tough stage in her life, this story expressed different emotions the most important message is confront racism and ALL people are equal no matter what.

Saira Dastigir

I think Selina was brave to go on by herself. She got insulted because of her skin colour from the ship crew. It made me cry because it was emotional. It was about treating black people the same as white people. It made me think about the past a lot. I much prefer this one to the opera for the unknown woman.

Sameer Khan

In the performance Selina talked about her journey to Africa to the UK and also it was a monologue. Selina said SALT stood for the sea and for healing wounds she said the sea because the sea water has go salt in it. I saw Selina smashing the rocks up to represent people in her journey whenever it came to a person she didn’t like she smashed the rock. The performance made me feel very interested because when she shared stuff with everyone she wasn’t worried or scared to share personal things about her life. Towards the end of the performance everyone thought it was the end but it wasn’t.

Hana Ali

I was surprised, shocked and it was difficult to understand but at the same time simple because she was the only woman on the stage. I was a bit discombobulated because she was by herself doing this performance and it was a hard time for her to talk about her personal, difficult life. When Selina Thomson cried I cried too because I thought it was really important for us to know how unhappy and powerful she was talking about it. I really enjoyed how she was smashing the salt stone and how she represented the objects. I prefer SALT better than the Opera for the Unknown woman because I thought SALT had more of an effect but I think that people who are teenagers and bigger should watch this piece really. I recommend anyone over 12 should watch this piece because they will understand more.

Jamal

Some of the parts were emotional, dull and funny. Well the funniest part was when the yellow flag came off and the dull part was when Salina Thompson kept talking and talking. The emotional part was when she was breaking the bricks to express her feelings. I thought it was sad because she was thinking about slavery.

Zainab Farooq

When I was sitting in my seat it felt soft but it made a lot of annoying sounds that gave me head ache. I waited for SALT to start. I felt super surprised more than anything. In my brain I thought who is this lady walking on the stage wearing a white dress? But when she was showing her picture of her family I was going to cry so much because she had a brilliant life with her family. But she left her family. She went on a ship. I loved when Selina Thompson was talking, that was interesting. When Selina Thompson came off the ship, she thought she was in paradise. It was about how black people didn’t get treated well.

I want everybody in the world to come because it will make you cry so badly it is an amazing show to watch!