Samsara: SELF CONTAINED SPACES

UNKNOWN/UNEXPLORED/UNDISCOVERED

Created and Conceived by VCA Graduate Eleanor Lindberg and directed by Samsara, “Self Contained Spaces” is a theatrical fusion of poetry, physical theatre and four women trapped inside four human sized boxes.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES – SELF CONTAINED SPACES

When Eleanor first told me the story of the woman on the toilet seat, my reaction was horror and great sadness. The challenge with this show was to find the strength and joy in her journey. Why did she stay there for so long? Why did she resist emergency services when they came and removed her? As Dr Phil would say, there has to be a payoff and our task was to find what that was. As part of our exploration, we looked at Plato’s allegory of the cave, and suddenly it became clear to me - she was seeing a world bigger and brighter than the rest of us. This woman had left the cave and seen the sun and the real things and heard the real sounds, not just echoes and shadows. In her world she could move and play in safety and not feel chained up. Confining herself to the tiny bathroom actually gave her the freedom to be who she was. The pain of muscles atrophying and sores festering was her rite of passage to freedom. I realised my initial reaction came from a place of fear, and if I let that go I, too, could glimpse that world.

BOX 1 - COCOON WOMAN (Beth Liston)