I WALK IN YOUR WORDS uses the headphone verbatim technique as developed by community arts activist, Anna Deveare-Smith in the USA in the 90's. Artists will use the long form interview with members of their families & extended communities on the topic of belonging to collect unique and distinctive personal stories. Once interviews have been completed, the artistic team will edit the interviews & weave them into a narrative touching on both the political & personal experience.
Artists will perform the interviews whilst at the same time listening to the interviews through headphones as they perform. This technique allows every breath, every utterance, every idiosyncratic detail of the speaker to be captured by the performer and the result is a series of poignant, unpredictable, tender, funny and honest testimonies.
It is an opportunity for audiences to reject the notion of stereotype and engage with the nuance and distinctive complexity of each and every personal story. The guiding principal is that everyone has a story to tell whether they recognise it or not. A theatrical work that has the potential to address the important cultural & civic issues of our times.
Directed by Kristine Landon-Smith
