News
Opportunity for artists to team up with a theatre project
Borderlands
An exciting opportunity for artists of any medium to team up with a theatre devising project focusing on women and mental health inspired by a Gothic short story is on offer in late November and mid December, with the aim of the artists contributing to an exhibition/ installation of their work documenting the process at Bath’s 44AD gallery at the end of January.
Bath Spa University Senior Lecturer in Drama and Acting, Mary Steadman, has received Arts Council England funding to do a research and development creative process called Borderlands on women and mental illness using the story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” written in the late 19th century and the evocative photography of Francesca Woodman.
Here’s what Mary Steadman says: “Gilman’s protagonist has just had a baby and has been prescribed a ‘rest cure’ and confined to a room. Throughout the story the boundaries between her and the room slowly dissolve as she descends into madness. Woodman’s photographs explore images of the relationship between women’s bodies and space, blurring the boundaries of the body and the walls of derelict houses – her ‘House’ series may have been based on Gilman-Perkin’s story.
“Borderland weaves these themes with dreams and contemporary stories of women who have suffered post-partum depression and psychosis, through weaving evocative imagery, movement, and text the performance seeks to find a way to voice these difficult, often stigmatised stories.”
Inspired?
The rehearsals that artists are being invited to observe are:
- Saturday and Sunday 28 and 29 November (including working with design and fabric)
- Rehearsals between Tuesday 15 and Friday 18 December.
All at Newton Park Campus (Bath Spa University). There may be some arrangements made to subsidise parking costs. You do not have to be able to attend all of these dates to take part.
Borderland will be performed from 28-30 January 2016 in the University Theatre, Newton Park Campus. There will be an exhibition/installation of the process of making the work at the 44AD Gallery in Bath from January 25th – 31st 2016. This will draw directly on the design process featuring designers Cathy Kelly’s work, as well as collaborations with local charities and organisations, and local fine-artist Valerie Bowes.
Mary’s interested in artists of any medium – visual artists, writers, and performance-based artists. (She has a team of devisers/performers already. This offer is about observing the process and creating work based on it.)
The project will include a co|Create meeting where Mary meets with the observing artists to talk about the process and have a dialogue.
To register you interest, please contact kate@creativityworks.org.uk
