Two new pieces commissioned as part of Theatre Absolute’s two-year project Are We Where We Are? will take to the stage at the Shop Front Theatre, Coventry in October 2018.
Taking American novelist Henry David Thoreau’s provocation “we are not where we are, but in a false position” as a central theme, the commissions explore stories of the personal and the political.
The Things We Tell Ourselves, written and performed by Cristina Catalina, is the seventh in a series of nine pieces commissioned for the stage. It can be seen along with Don’t Cry for Me, written and performed by Stephanie Ridings.
Cristina Catalina is an actor, producer, writer and translator. She is a member of ensemble Tangled Feet and an associate artist at Theatre Absolute. She is also an associate producer at Dash Arts.
Stephanie Ridings’s solo show The Fear of Fear is to première at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry before touring in 2019.
Theatre Absolute’s artistic director Chris O’Connell said, “Thoreau’s quote seems particularly apt at this moment in the 21st century. It’s a provocative call for theatre makers to explore peoples’ experiences today.
“It includes headline issues such as politics, economics and migration but reflects much wider perspectives offered by exciting, new and established writers and artists. We look forward to sharing these two new pieces as all of the previously commissioned pieces have proved epic in their intensity, and the conversations they have provoked.”
The Things We Tell Ourselves and Don’t Cry for Me will be presented at the Shop Front Theatre, Coventry on Thursday 11 October.