'One night, during a performance of "Elektra", an actress falls silent, and from then on, refuses to speak. The nurse assigned to her recovery, takes her to a remote seaside cottage. Very quickly, this safe house transforms into a site of terror and isolation, as patient and nurse grow dangerously close. A nightmarish poem about identity, intimacy and the limits of the spoken word.'
Source: http://www.theatreworks.org.au/ (Sighted 24/05/2012).
Produced by Fraught Outfit in association with Theatre Works at Theatre Works, St Kilda, 18-27 May 2012.
Director: Adena Jacobs.
Production Designer: Dayna Morrissey.
Lighting Designer: Danny Pettingill.
Cast: Karen Sibbing and Meredith Penman.
Produced by Fraught Outfit for Malthouse Theatre and Belvoir St Theatre.
Performed at Malthouse Theatre, 27 June - 14 July 2013.
Performed at Belvoir St Theatre (Upstairs), 24 July - 18 August 2013.
Director: Adena Jacobs.
Production Designer: Dayna Morrissey.
Lighting Designer: Danny Pettingill.
Sound Designer: Russell Goldsmith.
Cast including Meredith Penman, Daniel Schlusser, and Karen Sibbing.
'This article argues that when actors and directors use an 'affect-first' approach to performance, they are able to build an alternative semiotic that allows distinctly feminine/ist meaning to be created in the rehearsal room and shared in performance. This feminine/ist strategy for meaning- creation requires makers to feel first and think second, thus problematising the patriarchal Cartesian hierarchies of mind/body, and opening a space for affect and the body to be centralised in the creation of on-stage meaning. Using Fraught Outfit's 2012-13 production of 'Persona' as a case study, I contend that working at the intersections of feminist theatre theory, affect theory and 'ecriture feminine' allows feminine/ist theatre-makers to signify a broader and deeper range of meaning in and with the female body than otherwise possible with an approach that prioritises traditional theatre semiotics.' (Publication abstract)
'This article argues that when actors and directors use an 'affect-first' approach to performance, they are able to build an alternative semiotic that allows distinctly feminine/ist meaning to be created in the rehearsal room and shared in performance. This feminine/ist strategy for meaning- creation requires makers to feel first and think second, thus problematising the patriarchal Cartesian hierarchies of mind/body, and opening a space for affect and the body to be centralised in the creation of on-stage meaning. Using Fraught Outfit's 2012-13 production of 'Persona' as a case study, I contend that working at the intersections of feminist theatre theory, affect theory and 'ecriture feminine' allows feminine/ist theatre-makers to signify a broader and deeper range of meaning in and with the female body than otherwise possible with an approach that prioritises traditional theatre semiotics.' (Publication abstract)