A “Play” By 9 Writers Inspired by 11 Artists Produced by Chris Soul Directed by Jono Ayres and Rachel Winfield NEW STAGES 2008 Saturday 1st March 4pm- 5pm Stage1 stage@Leeds At the dawn of creation, Iris, the winged messenger to the Gods, is asked to live through the history of the Earth. As a symbol of the rainbow Iris will observe the emergence of humans, rationality, religion and robots through a journey that will test her sanity as well those she meets… Cover design by Jenny Lewis
TALES OF IRIS At the dawn of creation, Iris, the winged messenger to the Gods, is asked to live through the history of the Earth. As a symbol of the rainbow Iris will observe the emergence of humans, rationality, religion and robots through a journey that will test her sanity as well those she meets‌ Produced by Chris Soul Directed by Jono Ayres and Rachel Winfield Stage Management: Helen Rolfe Designers: Erin Maddocks, Sarah O’Brien, Sophia Mason and Kaylie Black WRITING TEAM Jono Ayres Ingrid Boyd Lynne Evans Adam Lowe Helen Lyttle Katherine Mann Chris Soul Leila de Vito Justine Warden
CAST Jono Ayres John Davison Laura Deacon Carl Lawrence Harvey Lela Moutsakis Sophia Pearson Emily Slatter Sarah Upton Shan Yaping
ARTIST TEAM Taneesha Ahmed Kimbal Bumstead Lucy Eccelshall Jenny Lewis Heather Jones Rachael Panter Chris Soul Laura Thomas Sam Walker Lorraine Yeung
A collaboration between the School of Performance and Cultural Industries and the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies Festival Director: Jonathan Pitches Festival Secretary: Anita Fridlington Theatre Manager: Jess Hodgson
INTRODUCTION Tales of Iris' can be best described as a collaboration of the imaginations of nearly twenty creative individuals. It started with an idea of basing a play around the practices of selected artists from the School of Fine Art. Artists were simply asked to freely submit any artwork they would like to see used within a theatre space, offering up new interpretations of their practice. A board of writers then came together to select particular artworks and to base a narrative around them. The idea of Iris observing the history of the Earth was reached: an ambitious idea. Each writer then wrote a scene around their chosen artwork with Iris as the protagonist. The production is thus about re-interpretation and re-interpretation. I like to see it as a performed gallery exhibition. It is not conventional in its form. It is an ambitious, experimental, colourful and random project showcasing the talents of new and upcoming artists, writers and performers here at Leeds University. Chris Soul, Producer ALL THE COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW Picture a wonderful arc Of green racing across centuries Generations; and beings, And the pink orb of Mother Nature Giving birth to the story, Follow Iris; Capture the lightness of yellow and liveliness Of orange expectant tomorrows, Add blue ingredients of action through experience, Combine red stakes raising modernity, And the darkness of purple somewhere in between, Form yearnings and meanings, and leanings mixed, Like all the colours of the rainbow, To understand, first you must see. Lynne Evans ďƒŁ
CAST AND PRODUCTION TEAM
PRODUCER, WRITER, ARTIST Chris
Soul
is a recent Fine Art graduate from Leeds University. He has produced paintings, animated paintings and documentaries, including an animated ‘day in the life’ of a painter. Last year he exhibited at ‘States of Art’, a massive exhibition of nearly 70 artists spread over Leeds University campus. He is currently taking an MA in Writing for Performance and Publication, which has included writing, producing, organizing and exhibiting artwork for ‘Tales of Iris.’ His research interests include alchemy, mythology, memory, painting and experimental writing. Out of university he enjoys recording songs. He hopes to set up more creative collaborations in the future as well as find time to finish and publish a couple of novels. “Tales of Iris started out as just a small idea I had until the idea got off the ground and I was suddenly collaborating with so many people. It’s been fantastic to be involved with theatre in all aspects from the first writers meetings, the festival committee, to the first drafts, to working with artists and sitting in on some interesting rehearsals. chrissoul@hotmail.co.uk
DIRECTOR, WRITER, ACTOR Jono Ayres has been involved in theatre and performance since his very first day of secondary school, except he was once King 2 in his infant schools production of the Nativity. However his passion for the stage only began to grow when he hit his teens and has since performed in all possible styles of performance including; Musicals, Dramas, Comedy, Shakespeare, Physical, Post-Modern and even spent 5 years training and performing as an ice figure skater. He then trained as an actor at Leeds University’s Bretton Hall Campus, receiving a high 2:1 Degree on the Acting course. Following this he continues his theatrical education and is currently studying towards his Masters Degree in ‘Writing for Performance and Publication’. Jono says “It has been a wonderful experience being involved in the New Stages Festival. Not only has it given me the chance to truly flex all my performance skills, but I have been able to work on theatre from the production side of things too, by taking on directorial roles and being a me mber of the festival co mmittee .”
DIRECTOR Rachel Winfield graduated from Bretton Hall University in 2006 with a degree in Acting. Before attending university and during her time there Rachel took part in many productions both as an Actor and Director. Theatre credits include Nancy, Oliver (2000), Nikki, Sweet Charity (2001) Gloria, Return to the Forbidden planet (2002), Rosalita, West side story (2002) Hepzabah Green, Carries War (2002)Helen, Deckchairs (2002), Old Woman/Budda, Passion (2004) Old Woman, Duchess of Malfi (2005), Alice, Two (2005),Bash, Four Prats and a pigeon (2006). Directing Credits include Dracula Spectacular (2002), Muppet Christmas Carol (2003) Little Shop of Horrors (2004), Return to the Forbidden Planet (2004) Fame (2005). Rachel Coruns Exadus Theatre Company which has been touring to the Edinburgh fringe festival since 2004 Theatre Credits include Jeanie, Hair (2004) Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors (2007) Directing Credits Riddance (2006)
DESIGNERS Erin Maddocks is a first year student on the Performance Design course and comes from a background in art. Following a course in art foundation, she decided to specialise in performance design, and is interested in costume design and construction. In the next months she will be working on a big budget production of 'The Mabinogion' in north Wales, and a performance for the Edinburgh fringe festival. Dwi'n gobeithio y mwynhewch y sioe! =)
Sarah O'Brien is a first year Performance Design student who enjoys the overall process of Scenographic techniques. This is her first time working on a play and hopes to gain experience to help her in future performances
Sophia Mason. It wasn't until GCSE that I really persued my
STAGE MANAGER
passion for the performing arts. After working at BBC Television Centre in London, I realized my interest was not being on the stage but behind the scenes. So in 2006 I did a work experience placement in Nantes, France, as a backstage assistant for a touring company. After taking a year out to travel around South America, Australasia and South East Asia; I moved up here to Leeds to take Performance Design, BA at the University. The course so far has been very interesting to me as a designer and I hope it will continue to benefit me in the future.
Helen Rolfe graduated from Leeds in June 2007 with a BA (Hons) in Arts Management. Since leaving university she has worked as a Stage Manager for Gawsworth Hall, Slung Low Theatre Company and Sheffield Theatres. Whilst studying Helen was involved in numerous productions and undertook various stage management positions including Company Stage Manager on 32 Mystery Plays To Do Before You Die. She also completed work experiences with Compass Theatre Company and Sheffield Theatres.
ARTIST Sam Walker has contributed with scenery artwork, which is shown on the back projector. University of Leeds, Fine Art - BA Hons Final Year Student. Published Works: Untitled 161 (Volume Magazine: Issue 3, Feb 2008) w w w. v o l u m e m a g a z i n e . c o m
PERFORMERS Emily Slatter 1st year Theatre and Performance student, so far enjoying the course and love studying in Leeds. Before university I took a gap year travelling and so this is the 1st play I have been in for over a year and I am excited to be part of it. Previously I have been in performances back home in Leicester at The Little Theatre including Catherine Cooksons, The Fifteen Streets. I used to perform at the Leicester festival each year in the solo acting and completed LAMDA exams for acting and for speaking of verse and prose. Roles in ‘Tales of Iris’: Iris 1, a robot
Lela Moutsakisi am a 3rd year BA (HONS) Theatre and Performance student. My taste in theatre is eclectic, ranging from classical drama, like Greek Tragedy and Shakespeare to site specific and interventionist performance. However my passion lies primarily in Physical theatre (dance, mime, clowning etc.) where the emphasis is on actor-as-creator rather than actor-as-interpreter and that the body is the sole mediator in performance. After graduating I would like to pursue further training in physical theatre and corporal mime in either London or Paris. Acting Credits, from the most recent: Lady Bracknell and Jack Worthing In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of being Earnest (2008). Servant and Gypsy Chorus in Euripides' Helen (2007).Nancy in Ann Jellicoe's The Knack (2007). Madamne De Rosamonde in Christopher Hampton (2006). Claire in Jean Genet's The Maids (2005). Goody in Carol Churchill's Vinagar Tom (2004).Herdsman and Bacchaic dancer in Euripides' The Bacchae (2003). Dancer In Cabaret (2002). Roles in Tales of Iris: Iris 2, Moon Unit (the cat)
John Davison graduated from Bretton Hall in 2007 with a BA (Hons) in Acting and is currently working as a freelance actor in and around Yorkshire. Born in Norwich in 1985, John has been acting, singing and performing for the last 15 years and is proud to have appeared in the world premier of Sir John Tavener's Let Us Begin Again. Recent productions for John include; touring Cyprus with a new adaptation of Sophocles' Ajax, directed by PCI tutor George Rodosthenous as part of the International Festival of Greek Theatre 2007, playing the role of Mr Smith in The Bald Prima Donna, playing Vasques in 'tis pity she's a whore, and leading workshops as part of the National Acadamy for Gifted and Talented Youth Acting Summer School. John is currently working at management level for Leeds University Union and is actively seeking representation as a performer. Roles in ‘Tales of Iris’: Male God, Benny, the Minister
Shan Yaping (Yvonne) Prior to starting on her MA in Performance Studies at the University of Leeds, Yvonne studied at the Central Academy of Drama in China. Whilst there her experiences were diverse, ranging from acting to scenic assistant and producer. Performing roles have included parts in West Side Story, The Lion King. As a Stage Manager she has been involved in shows/events such as the Beijing International Symposium on Actor Training and Theatre Show, The Memory of Two Monday and Angel Came to the Babylon·Emperor Romrose, along with many others. Yvonne worked as producer on the short film Children’s Day, Let’s Perform the Comic Dialogue which was awarded the Most Excellent Short Film in the Chinese Academician Drama Festival. She also worn an award in the First Dramatic Opusculum Competition of The Central Academy of Drama for her scenography work on the musical Dream of Mosquito. Alongside her theatrical work Yvonne also worked as reporter, anchor person and editor for a program of Qingdao TV—Report of the Metropolis and Life Online . Roles in Iris: Socrates
Carl Lawrence Harvey is currently in the third year of his BA (Hons) in Theatre and Performance. Whilst studying for his degree Carl has been involved in numerous productions including undertaking the role of Menelaos in Helen of Troy which was recently performed at the Stage@leeds. Other credits include roles in 32 Mystery Plays To Do Before You Die, The Birthday Party, portraying the role of Stanley Webber, Full Monty: The Musical and Ralph Clarke in Our Country’s Good. Roles in ‘Tales of Iris’: Ribohuggle (tiger), Adam, the Masked Avenger, Robot
Sarah Upton: 1st Year BA Hons Theatre and Performance, Leeds University. Sarah is currently working towards her BA (Hons) Theatre and Performance degree at Leeds University. Previously she has taken A level Theatre and Performance at Altrincham Grammar school wherein she took part in both devised and scripted performances. She also ran a Theatre workshop with the younger years and has reached her grade 7 singing exam which she hopes to use within her degree. She took a lead role in "The School for Scandal" and enjoys the devising and physical aspects of theatre having taken part in workshops with companies such as "Out of Joint" and "Frantic Assembly". Aristotle, ‘John’ the artist
Laura Deacon is a first year Theatre and Performance student at Leeds University and this is her first public performance since starting Uni in September. She studied A Level Drama at Poynton Sixth Form and Performing Arts College, where she gained experience in both performing and managing performance. As well as enjoying acting, Laura is a keen athlete, having travelled as far as Tokyo to compete in both national and international Cheerleading competitions. It is in fact a combination of the acrobatic nature of Cheerleading and movement workshops, led by companies such as Frantic Assembly, which sparked her interest in various aspects of physical theatre. Roles in Iris: Eve, Dea the dinner lady/ granddaughter
Sophia Pearson: 1st Year BA (Hons) Theatre and Performance, Leeds University. Sophia is currently working towards her BA (Hons) theatre and performance degree at Leeds University. On her gap year Sophia worked in Malawi, East Africa leading drama workshops for local children, using drama as a tool for self expression. This is an area of theatre she is very interested in and hopes to pursue throughout her degree and in later life. She has also been a member of the Bristol Old Vic for four years prior to her coming to university. Roles in Tales of Iris: Female God, Dr Clarence
TALES OF IRIS SCENE BY SCENE SCENE ONE- CREATION SCENE TEN- THE END WRITTEN BY CHRIS SOUL PAINTING-ANIMATION BY CHRIS SOUL Characters: MALE GOD, FEMALE GOD, IRIS AND ENTIRE CAST AS ‘PUPPETS’ “CHAOS! CHAOS! CHAOS!” “Originally when the writing team first got together to discuss all the artwork I decided to include my own animation I had produced in my degree. Some of the writers suggested this should frame the play, the beginning and end, with its narrative of creation and falling back into chaos. The animation was inspired by Ovid’s passage ‘Creation’ in his ‘Metamorphoses.’ The animation is also based on alchemy in its process and imagery. Alchemy, in both spiritual and physical aspects, describes creation as arriving at the philosopher’s stone, the phoenix from the flames or gold from the mud and chaos of nothingness, as well as from the fusion of male and female principles: the Male and Female God. In both process and content the play as a whole is also based on alchemy, producing narrative threads, meaning and imagery from the chaos of so many creative individuals. The directors have done a brilliant job of making the beginning and end very physical and dynamic. In terms of writing these scenes I had to introduce Iris as well as conclude upon her random experiences. It goes full circle, from creation to the end of time and back again, like a snake eating its own tail.” Chris Soul
‘Of bodies changed to other forms I tell;/ You Gods, who have yourselves wrought every change/ Inspire my enterprise and lead my lay In One Continuous song from nature’s first/ Remote beginnings to our modern times.’ Ovid
SCENE TWO- THE ERA OF THE TIGER WRITTEN BY LYNNE EVANS ARTWORK BY TANEESHA AHMED
WRITER Lynne Evans is a Castlefordian who resides in Bridlington. She has been a heritage poet for over twenty years. She is currently studying an MA in Writing for Performance and Publication at Leeds University. “I wrote this scene to illustrate a parallel world: a new era. The tiger artwork appealed to me from the very start for it depicts the cat in both positive and negative forms. In mythology, the cat symbolises rain in a new dawn. Rain dampens the spirit in the negative form but brings forth new birth in the positive form. Iris the messenger is poetically applied to the rainbow, and the archway of tomorrow. The rainbow coat symbolises the archway of tomorrow and guides and protects Iris on her journey ahead.” Lynne Evans
ARTIST Taneesha Ahmed. I am currently completing a fine art degree course, and my art practice ranges from performance based situational art to screen printing. The original ideas concerning the artwork submitted for ‘The Tales of Iris’ was in relation to the themes of mapping, identity and diaspora. The tiger in a sense, is a representation of the other, primal exotic and wild, in which by capturing her, she is entrapped by the eye that sees her.
SCENE THREE- THE REDEEMERS WRITTEN BY KATHERINE MANN ANIMATIONS BY LORRAINE YEUNG
WRITER
Katherine Mann Deakin University Melbourne, Australia Batchelor of Arts (Professional Writing) 2001-2004 Deakin University Melbourne, Australia Post Graduate Diploma in Literature 2007 Leeds University Masters: Writing For Performance and Publication 2007/08 “This piece was intended on a play on Christian religious ideologies within the frame work of Greek mythology. In particular, the inclusion of notions of destruction being a form of creation was influenced by Lorraine’s work with animation, where she gave life to inanimate objects, lost hair and dead skin, to create something new. The piece is also a comment on the notion that morality is relative and therefore slippery. Instead of living with his past, the main character, Benny, decides to recreate himself and begin again with a clean slate, convincing the easily corrupted Iris to assist him.” Katherine Mann
ARTIST
Lorraine Sue-Fern Yeung's work stems from her preoccupation of the cadaver and macabre. In looking at her own personal and private rituals she looks at the darker side of her own obsessive and compulsive behaviour in her own attempt to overcome the abject. Her work has predominantly included video installations of animated fingernail sculptures and photographic portraits of her own collected hair and skin. With a quality of being both beautiful and yet slightly disturbing, inanimate object are given life and purpose through her own intervention and desire to redeem herself. Where previously only visible behind the art object she now begins to emerge from hiding to becoming an art object through live art performance. Lorraine is currently affiliated with the LFA group whose recent exhibition was held at Arts@Trinity, Leeds, and TapedDUCK, a Leeds based live performative group. www.lorraineyeung.com “My work deals with the bodily abject, the things that our bodies expel daily in order to live, and in my practice I use such human and bodily remanence. I believe the human body is a signifier of earth, mortality and flux that is destined for death to return to the earth. My intervention with my physical and earthly preoccupations and compulsions in order to redeem my earthly and mortal qualities, to bring out of darkness and death, light and life.”
SCENE FOUR- ADAM AND EVE WRITTEN BY JONO AYRES VIDEO ART BY HEATHER JONES
ARTIST Heather Jones is a young artist who
WRITER
“I was immediately drawn to Heathers work because of its performance based practice. Having graduated from an acting degree where one of my major interests had been ‘physical theatre’ I instantly felt a connection with certain pieces of Heather’s work. It all seemed to fit perfectly as I instantly began plotting a physical piece of theatre in my head for two performers based solely on the clips of work I had seen, then when the running theme of ‘creation’ was decided, it was an easy transition to adapt my idea to that of ‘Adam and Eve’, which Heather’s work coincidentally leant itself to quite appropriately as well.” Jono Ayres
Recent exhibitions include: 01/2008 “LFA”, Holy Trinity Arts Centre, Leeds, England 09/2007 “Sway”, Analix Forever Gallerie, Geneva, Switzerland 06/2007 “Barbie tue rock”, ève, Grenoble, France 02/2007 “Les Impromptus”, Lieu d’Images et d’Art, Grenoble, France 01/2007 “Art in-pg”, ève, Grenoble, France 10/2006 “Light Night”, Holy Trinity Church, Leeds, England 03/2006 “Sortie”, VOG, Fontaine, France 05/2004 “Neither/Nor”, University of Leeds, Leeds, England
lives and works in between France and England, seesawing backward and forwards between the two. Her work is currently video and performance based. “I like to play with opposites, personal versus impersonal, familiar versus unfamiliar, big versus small, detail versus context. In my work I try to combine these to create an equilibrium. This leads to a fragile tension that holds the work together. In my most recent work, I’m exploring these abstract concepts through experiments with bodies in space. I like the fragility of the human body, and how it responds to being put into different situations. My performances are recorded in digital media, and part of my research is into ways of documenting that create a relationship between the action and its documentation. My work will become the scenery for the fourth scene of “Tales of Iris” written by Jono, in which Adam and Eve explore the confines of their garden of Eden. Three filmed performance pieces will be shown, which Adam and Eve start to interact with as they discover their world. I’m really interested in the relationship created between the performers on stage and the performers inside. Adam and Eve are trapped in the garden, my performers are trapped within the screen; both are dealing with the feeling of confinement and imposed constraints. I’m excited to see what happens when you put mediated performances back into a live context. How will my surrogate performers co mp e te fo r “stage p re se n ce ” ?
SCENE FIVE- IRIS AND THE GREEKS WRITTEN BY CHRIS SOUL ANIMATION BY JENNY LEWIS SCULPTURE BY KIMBAL BUMSTEAD
WRITER “All logic has gone out of the window for this scene. Iris finally cracks, bringing down the whole foundation of western rationalism. It is a kind of tongue in cheek scene really, poking fun at story structure and logic, which for me is what this play is all about. It should allow us to forget about logic and meaning for the rest of the play, and just enjoy Iris’s episodic adventure. It was interesting writing with the two artist’s work in mind. For me Kimbal’s sculpturehead became a vessel in which to think, detached from the world. Jenny’s animation depicts the Greeks spinning out of control in a universe they really don’t understand.” Chris Soul
ARTISTS Artist: Jenny Lewis BA Fine Art, University of Leeds past exhibitions: LFA Contemporary Art Exhibition, Holy Trinity Arts Centre, January 2008. “Look, But Don’t Touch” is a sarcastic, dystopic prophecy for future art viewing and criticises how we privilege physical space over digital, psychological and spiritual space. As the medium is rendered obsolete in digital imagery, Lewis raises questions regarding which aspects of “Look, But Don’t Touch” can be defined as sculpture and animation. Through her art practice, the artist is interested in exploring how conflicting spatial realms affect both the viewer’s and the artist’s relationship to art. Jenny also designed the front cover.
Kimbal Bumstead is a visual artist who works with performance, video and photography. His work is involved with issues of the body, de-humanisation and objectification. His work is audience based and consequently interactive, recent work has been based around life-drawing and the breaking down of traditional roles and structures within that context, where the roles of audience and performer are challenged. He has recently exhibited as part of the LFA group at Arts@Trinity and at START event Trash Bar. www.kimbalbumstead.com
SCENE FOUR- IRIS: A REDNECK REBIRTH WRITTEN BY ADAM LOWE AND HELEN LYTTLE ARTWORK BY JESSICA WILKIN
WRITERS Adam Lowe is Editor-in-Chief of Polluto: The Anti-Pop Culture Journal and Features Editor of Bent. He runs Dog Horn Publishing with the aid of an ox and a frozen banana. He has written 'From Wings to Cyberspace: Teledildonics & the Gendered Body' for the University of Texas' book Queering the Fantastic, and has released a hard house single with DJGRH. He currently lives in a squat with a fallen angel named Zippy, six lovers, a pet mango tree and the wreckage of the Roswell spaceship in his front room. www.mag.bent.com, www.polluto.com www.dogpublishing.com
Helen Lyttle lives in Starbucks and is currently running for the title of 'Britain's Tallest Female Writer'. In an attempt to avoid getting a real job, she earns her pocket money by tutoring high school students, editing documentaries, and making really interesting spreadsheets about golf. One day she hopes to live in Paris and spend her days writing in cafés, thus becoming a poverty-stricken romantic cliché.
ARTIST Jess Wilkin is currently studying for her final year of a Fine Art BA at Leeds University. Her practice is focused in two areas at the moment, firstly with investigation into the place of religion in contemporary society both visually and culturally. And secondly a project involving collecting in all forms, particularly book collecting. She also make artists books, but her practice mostly takes the form of printmaking or photography “I made the images of the Virgin Mary in order to create contrasts and juxtapositions which would question the role of religion in contemporary society, as well as the nature of blasphemy. There are two texts which surround the image of Mary, one is an article about child abuse cases in the church, and the other is an adapted passage from the novel 'Gods Behaving Badly' by Marie Philips, in which she describes a sex scene between Aphrodite and Apollo. I used the same text, but switching the names to Mary and Jesus.” Jess Wilkin
SCENE SEVEN- THE ARTIST’S MODEL WRITTEN BY INGRID BOYD PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUCY ECCLESHALL
WRITER Ingrid Boyd is a native of Leeds, but has lived at various times in Glasgow, London and New York. She is a Graduate of Westminster University film department. Jobs too numerous to list include wardrobe slave, flatmate finder and cocktail shaker. Last employed at the English National Opera. Recently involved in script development, assistant directing, and directing with Dark Edge Theatre, London. Wants to write for TV ‘ cos baby needs a new pair of shoes.
ARTIST Lucy Eccleshall first became interested in photography when she took the subject for A Level. Her main area of interest is black and white imagery and uses a darkroom to develop and print all of her photographs manually. In July 2005 Lucy won the “Inside Out” Art competition for the Psoriasis Association and her work was exhibited in the Imaginations Gallery in London. As well as being a practising artist, Lucy also works as a photographer taking publicity and wedding photographs. Now in her final year, Lucy studies Fine Art at Leeds University. Her work has developed over the three years to include digital photography as well as film. She is particularly interested in issues throughout art history involving the female figure as a subject of the male gaze. Her series of self-portraits explore the relationship between subject, photographer and spectator. “The female nude removes the body from the specificity of time. Unclothed, it belongs to the past, present and future. It is classless, without culture, unhindered by language and a subject everyone can relate to. I am particularly interested in how women are typically objects rather than possessors of the gaze and how the relationship between object of vision and spectator can be manipulated. The photographs I have submitted are amongst a series of self-portraits, all with a reoccurring theme of stairs, doorways, corridors and a strong light source (often a window.) The photographs depict a fragile young body caught up in the vastness of space and time. The vulnerability of the subject is emphasised by the strength of the objects around her.” Lucy Eccleshall
SCENE EIGHT- IRIS AND DEA WRITTEN BY JUSTINE WARDEN DRAWINGS BY RACHAEL PANTER
WRITER Justine Warden previously studied at University of East Anglia for a Diploma in Creative Writing. As a self employed plasterer, she decided to take a year out and continue her studies at Leeds on the MA Writing for Performance and Publication.
“The scene covers the cycle of life and death within the Creation story and focuses on two dinners ladies as they prepare for the lunch time rush at school. Dea, a mother of two and a woman who feels she has yet to achieve her goals in life, is comforted by Iris as she passes away and is shown that the contributions she has made in her life are valid. The quality of Rachael's line drawings allowed me to construct a scene to compliment the character and disposition of the people she portrays. I took the theme of her dinner lady sketches and adapted it within the Creation story of the play. Her honest portrayal of ordinary people in their working environment lent a normality to the script and I have found the collaboration process very beneficial.” Justine Warden
ARTIST Rachael Panter’s character based works come from a lifetime love of drawing and a fascination with human interaction. Born in Market Harborough, Leicestershire in 1985, Rachael went on to complete an Art Foundation course at Loughborough University and is currently in her final year of a BA Fine Art course at Leeds University. She has experimented with various mediums including making stained glass windows, gaining experience with animatronics at Farmer Studios and painting in oils, but her passion for drawing is at the core of her practice. Often working from life or photographs, Rachael tries to capture an instant from the everyday and manipulate the image to create a more character based narrative. Using basic materials such as pen and watercolour on paper, this preferred medium allows for a spontaneous interpretation of her subject, adding to the almost illustrative insight into the life of a dinner lady. Rachael’s fascination with dinner ladies stems from her own experience as a waitress. Rachael was interested in how a uniform creates an association with a specific space, especially service areas and counters. It was this negotiation of space between dinner ladies and how other people reacted to them that led to her exploration through drawing. The scene highlights this idea of social and class negotiation. Iris reflects on her life as a dinner lady and how an education might have allowed her to fulfil some of her dreams and aspirations. It is a compassionate tale of o n e w o m a n ’s p u r s u i t o f l i f e f r o m t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e f o o d c o u n t e r
SCENE NINE- NATURAL SURGERY WRITTEN BY LEILA DE VITO PROP ARTWORK BY LAURA THOMAS
WRITER On a beautiful July morning in 1984, Leila de Vito was born in the county that never sleeps (in its own bed): Essex. After a happy childhood spent talking to a stone owl in her back garden, imaginatively named ‘Owly’, Leila decided that she needed to get a life and, subsequently, ventured up north to the tropical city of Hull. Here she embarked upon a degree in philosophy and grew a long white beard. Leila is currently studying an MA in Writing for Performance and Publication at Leeds Uni, which she is absolutely loving and hopes that it will help her achieve her dream of becoming a professional writer. Then she and Owly can finally marry.
“Laura’s boobs – the crocheted ones – immediately made me think of plastic surgery and rows of identical manufactured breasts on a production line. As all the writers had discussed touching on creation theory and alchemy in our early meetings, I decided to try and turn plastic surgery on its head and use Laura’s boobs as a natural pair in the piece that, rather than becoming an unnatural addition to a human’s body, became a natural addition to a mechanical body in the future. As the whole play starts very naturalistically, I wanted to try and use the boobs to bring it full circle. As for the Brucey bonus…I have no idea where that came from, but if anyone is still going to be on television in three hundred years; it’s him! “ Leila de Vito
ARTIST Laura Thomas is an artist in her third year at the University of Leeds studying fine art. Recently she has exhibited at Situation Leeds and will be exhibiting later this year as part of the ‘Hot Dinner Monday Club’. Her current work combines her passion for maths and wool. She produces carefully handmade crochet objects which are first mathematically calculated using diagrams and graph paper. The misappropriation of this traditional craft produces interesting results, recently she has produced a fabulous pair of wearable crochet breasts and a pod to clamber inside in moments of distress!