I'm sharing new work online this Thursday (7.30pm London time)
A little preview of what I am making for the Barbican...
Hello friends,
Thank you so much to everyone who sent me kind messages after my last post about my mom. It meant so, so much to me.
Recently, I’ve been focusing my creative energies on a piece that has been in development for the last five years. It’s a show about my own experiences with cancer, titled ‘To Rose on her 18th Birthday’.
The piece is written as a love letter to my daughter, and will be appearing in a showcase organised by CRIPtic Arts at the Barbican later this year, following development support from HighTide & the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.
I’m going to be sharing 20 minutes of the piece online as part of the CRIPtic Summer Sharing on this Thursday 15 August at 7.30pm London Time.
Bonus: it’s free!
The show is still a work in progress. I’m going to be sharing a homemade video - much like a playreading or scratch night in a theatre - alongside some other amazing artists that have been part of CRIPtic’s Launchpad programme.
The final version of ‘To Rose…’ will involve a number of multimedia elements that are still being created - although you can see some of Julia Forsman’s incredible photographs of my treatment journey in the current version.
Here’s a snippet of the piece…
Dear Rose,
You were born on the longest day of the year, when the sun could barely bring herself to leave the sky. At the peak of her arc, you turned your face up to the world and made your entrance, arriving just in time for lunch.
We had expected a Gemini baby, but your due date came and went, and through some conspiracy of my body and yours, you remained firmly inside.
You were born the day the sun moved into Cancer.
If you are able to attend, I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback! It has been an enormous challenge to distil this experience into a short piece. I’m still in the process of trying to get it all balanced right. My hope is that it will connect with people whose lives have been touched by cancer - either through their own experience, or that of a loved one.
If you’d like to book a free online ticket to the Summer Sharing, you can do so here:
Tickets are also already on sale for the live performance, which will be taking place from November 8-9 at at the Barbican as part of The Acts. You can find more details and book here.
And thank you again to everyone who has been a support along the way - there are lots of you on this list, and I treasure you all.
For now,
Alli