I watched this in recording via the Split Britches archive - available here.
It is so exciting to get to reach back in theatre history archives and see work from moments in time which create the trajectory on which my own work rests. Womens stories on stage, non-drama driven story, the mundane and every day presented on stage — these are all present. The Staging is reflective of a slide show, quick blackouts, choreographed minute movements between, reminding us of the artifice of presentation. Scenes repeat and circle back, seemingly static, yet things change.
I also loved the recording itself; it zooms in on small moments that may or may not be related to the speaking, allows the speaker to walk off screen while focusing on another character’s reactions. In the same way that a viewer’s eye in the theatre may linger elsewhere, this recording encourages us to acknowledge that, and provides space for this mental wandering. It is a reminder that the words are only a part of what matters — but rather that each minute detail makes up the whole.
A really wonderful piece to view for those whose work lingers in feminist ways of storytelling, to remind us of where we have come from.