Girl Talk

A fierce, riotous, nuanced circus/verbatim theatre work that uses text and physical language to lift up and empower women and girls.

The title ‘Girl Talk’ diminishes the female perspective, categorising it as inconsequential for men. This work will undermine and challenge this. It will amplify the female voice and displaying the physical strength and capabilities of the female body, challenging notions of ‘the weaker sex’ and constraints of
femininity.

Girl Talk juxtaposes circus with interviews and speeches by women that powerfully articulate the ways in which women are and have been undervalued, abused and exploited in our society.

Development history

I have been working in collaboration with Meredith Kitchen (Associate Director, South Australian Circus Centre) and Zebastian Hunter (Artistic Director, Circus Monoxide, NSW) on this project, and we refined the initial concept at a digital residency with Merrigong Theatre supported by Performing Lines in late 2020.

In 2022, Meredith worked with performers on a creative development. It created a soundtrack incorporating recordings of iconic women speaking about their experiences and more broadly about misogyny, and this soundtrack underscores the physical performances of the circus artists.

We now need to layer the voices and experiences of other women (and non-binary people) in the community – and you are invited to add your voice!

What does it involve?

An interview with Emma online that includes 10 standard questions that all participants will be asked, and some additional follow up questions. Questions will cover your experience of sexism/misogyny, what you wanted to be when you grew up, what you think is standing in the way of equality and so on.

The interview will take about 30 minutes and will use a recording platform called Riverside.fm.

Once we schedule a time, I’ll send you an invitation with a link. You don’t need to download anything – unless you want to download the app to do the interview on your phone. You’ll need to use either Chrome or Edge to join on your laptop. Find a quiet space and if possible, use headphones.

You will also need to sign a release form before the interview.

After the interview,I will email you a full transcript for your approval and may also indicate sections of audio I am planning on using. This gives you the opportunity to redact anything.

When will the show be on?

After the new audio has been created, there will be a new creative development at the South Australian Circus Centre. Further funding applications and developments will follow – it will likely be a year or two before the work is ready.

I will let you know when the show is scheduled for production.

Interview me!

Great! I’m conducting interviews throughout February 2023.

I am available after 5pm on Monday and Wednesday evenings and all day on Thursdays and can negotiate other times if that doesn’t work for you.

You can also use this form to ask me any questions.