Hello, my name is Thomas Corban. I live in New Zealand and study at Kadimah School. On my father’s side, my family arrived in New Zealand roughly one hundred and fifty years ago, coming from a small town in Lebanon called Shweir, located slightly to the north of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. On my mothers mothers side, my family originally came from London, and were lightermen (people that would use small barges to ferry freight across the Thames). The reason I chose to create a theatre is because of the connections that it has to my family; my grandfather, grandmother and aunt were all actors. During the making and preparation of my project, I interviewed my cousin twice removed from whom I learned many new things about my family including what it was like being Lebanese in New Zealand. While I was making this project, I learnt so many things about my family, including the struggles that my family (on my fathers side) faced when moving from Lebanon to New Zealand. Although that does not say that my mothers side did not face challenges. My grandmothers grandfather grew up in Limehouse, one of the poorest suburb in London (at that time). Everything about my project has symbolism; the front of the theatre has been made to represent my family mausoleum and the crest in the centre of the theatre has three elements; two grapes, that represent the Corban side of my family because we were vineyard workers. The gavel, represents the Anderson side of family because how big an influence law has had on my family.
