THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES... 32 days until the show!
Having read and read and read and written some ideas about identity over the last few months, the moment I started to actually put the show together was overwhelming. I felt like I had a lot of material to sift through and I was swimming in essays.
So I pared it down: after emptying my wardrobe and sending random books flying out of the bookshelf - that's how I prepare for workshops when I'm running late! - it hit me. It needs to be personal and it needs to be engaging, so why not use items from home to talk about my own journey through the maze of identity, be it gender, racial, religious etc.?
The scope for this was still endless - "identity" is limitless - and I was in danger of transplanting the kitchen sink to the venue in Edinburgh to poeticise the finer details of my life. Left-handed scissors, football socks, a broken violin... I could write and talk about all of these, as they do say a bit about who I am, but they're not that big a deal.
I needed something to focus the show. And, voila! I remembered one particular summer I did an internship where I had to put together a diversity manual. Stuff came back to me... If I remember correctly, the Equality Act 2003 protects against discrimination on six grounds: Age, Gender, Physical Ability, Race, Religion, Sexuality. What do the things I wear or carry around with me say about these concepts as identity markers? Do I realise this and am I comfortable with it? Is there a neutral position and how could that be achieved?
Clothes on the floor, I've been exploring these questions, writing some poetry, digging up some poems I've already written, searching for diversity questionnaires, laughing at YouTube videos, shuddering at blog comments and just watching the whole show come together in a kind of storyboarding session.
I'm now at the final stages and starting to memorise bits, but if you have anything that you think is a good area to explore, drop me a line!
Having read and read and read and written some ideas about identity over the last few months, the moment I started to actually put the show together was overwhelming. I felt like I had a lot of material to sift through and I was swimming in essays.
So I pared it down: after emptying my wardrobe and sending random books flying out of the bookshelf - that's how I prepare for workshops when I'm running late! - it hit me. It needs to be personal and it needs to be engaging, so why not use items from home to talk about my own journey through the maze of identity, be it gender, racial, religious etc.?
The scope for this was still endless - "identity" is limitless - and I was in danger of transplanting the kitchen sink to the venue in Edinburgh to poeticise the finer details of my life. Left-handed scissors, football socks, a broken violin... I could write and talk about all of these, as they do say a bit about who I am, but they're not that big a deal.
I needed something to focus the show. And, voila! I remembered one particular summer I did an internship where I had to put together a diversity manual. Stuff came back to me... If I remember correctly, the Equality Act 2003 protects against discrimination on six grounds: Age, Gender, Physical Ability, Race, Religion, Sexuality. What do the things I wear or carry around with me say about these concepts as identity markers? Do I realise this and am I comfortable with it? Is there a neutral position and how could that be achieved?
Clothes on the floor, I've been exploring these questions, writing some poetry, digging up some poems I've already written, searching for diversity questionnaires, laughing at YouTube videos, shuddering at blog comments and just watching the whole show come together in a kind of storyboarding session.
I'm now at the final stages and starting to memorise bits, but if you have anything that you think is a good area to explore, drop me a line!
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