International sound-theatre duo Physical Plastic presents their provocative show Touch(ed)—a solo performance using autobiographical events to confront gender bias and cultural stereotypes around intimacy—in life and in art-making itself. Touch(ed) satirizes “slut-shaming” and the perceived vulgarity of the single woman versus the model nuclear family, and asks how performance can be a vehicle for transgressive ideologies which prove difficult to uphold in real life. Arriving at the artist’s own trajectory as a married woman and mother, the work proposes that the popular cultural mythology of monogamy and motherhood is an elusive ideal for the de-sexualized mother-artist, who finds herself struggling to thrive amidst her physical metamorphosis and the demands of care-taking.
Conceived by performer/director Kestrel Leah, the work collages movement and original libretto with personal anecdotes and social media posts, while drawing from iconic female performances and leveraging specific dance forms in an exploration of sacred vs. profane love as personified in art. Yiannis Christofides’ live score combines layered electroacoustic soundscapes and experimental vocal processes, with music inspired by the song Gravity by “Womb pop” musical artist They/Live. Elements of Leah’s past performance experience are echoed through visual artist Dasha Sur’s yarn sculptures, based on references to the nefarious female spirit in string games folklore.
Runtime 60 minutes, no intermission, performed in English. Age 16+
Performed by Kestrel Farin Leah
with live musical performance by Yiannis Christofides
Direction: Kestrel Farin Leah
Music, Sound design: Yiannis Christofides
Scenic concept and video art: Dasha Sur
Lighting Design: Vasilis Petinaris
Costume Design: Stephanie Petagno
Waacking & Voguing Coaching: Kiki Economou
PHYSICAL PLASTIC—aka performer/director Kestrel Farin Leah and composer/sound artist Yiannis Christofides—creates theatre at the intersection of theatricality and artistic action. Their work is driven by a reciprocal dramaturgical rhythm with autobiography at the center, where the performance is a vessel for the multifaceted performer’s political and creative interests. At the core of their work is the physical performer, who is able to respond to the possibilities of the stage with a spatial and sensual expressivity that reveals new relations of sound, gesture and voice. A young collaboration, they have been resident artists at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, and received a New Music USA award for their work Alarm. In Los Angeles, they presented work at the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theatre, and collaborated with public art organization LAND.
Touch(ed) has been developed in the framework of the Residency Programme for Performing and Live Arts at Theatro Polis OPAP/ NiMAC and is supported in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. Research and dramaturgy was supported by the Dance House Lefkosia Artists in Process program.
Theatro Dentro, Nicosia: February 2, 3, 4 – 8pm
Polychoros Synergeio, Limassol: February 10, 11 – 8pm
General admission: €15 / Students: €12
Tickets are available on Sold Out Tickets and at the door.
