HEAL
A trilogy of participatory, site-responsive live performance events, made with and for residents
HEAL 1 / East London: Created and performed during and in response to the Pandemic in May 2020, to honour those that died, were not mourned, nor seen, and for those that were struggling. An illuminated woman peacefully walks the length of Millfields Road, Hackney (where Mirto and Murphy then lived) whilst channeling a sense of stillness, acceptance and recovery. She drags small stones behind her that make a gentle sound. Children participate from the windows and gardens of their homes. Resident-spectators are asked to watch from their windows and front doors… Whilst lifting of the first lockdown came two days later, many see each other for the first time. The filmed performance was screened (see here) onto an estate wall re-sharing the event with participants and the wider community.
Audience responses:
“a slow, gliding grace through grief that cannot be forgotten”
“our world is bursting with love and with people who are in need of healing. You blessed many”
“a beautiful interlude for people in unsettling times”
HEAL / West London: Created and performed in April 2021, with and for residents of Bevington Road and Orchard Close, W10. Commissioned and in collaboration with Muse Theatre, with whom we continue to work .
HEAL 2 / East London: to be together again after a year of distancing. An illuminated woman peacefully walks the length of Millfields Road again, intermittently holding hands with diverse residents that emerge from their homes. Other residents are involved through small performance actions in the estates’ garden. The performance was screened months later (see here), re-sharing the work with participants and the wider community.
Participant and audience responses:
“Now when I walk down the street I wave at my neighbours, ones that I never knew before”
“It brought us all together. I see more people; I smile at more people.”
HEAL 3 / East London: the last of the annual trilogy united street residents once more, to reflect on interdependence, bonds, ties and the ways in which we communicate. It saw people walking with strings in their mouths and actions in the garden, performed by estate residents.
Audience eavesdrop from passer-bys:
Male 1: “Bro, what’s she doing? Is she trying to get into the Guinness Book of records for the slowest walk?” Male 2: “Nah Bro, she looks like the statue of liberty” Pause… Male 3: “Actually I think she’s getting us all to slow down and to go on an individual journey, but a journey we can do collectively”.
