By Annie George and Flore Gardner
‘…a testimony to the creativity, strength and resilience of every woman…and achieves its aim of fighting back against silence and expressing that which cannot be said.’ THE SKINNY
In Twa, a contemporary tale is interwoven with a re-telling of the gruesome Greek myth of Philomela – based on the version in Ovid’s Metamorphoses – who is raped by her brother-in-law, who then cuts out her tongue so she cannot tell what happened to her. Both stories are about women who have been silenced but who find other ways of saying things that cannot be said.
With dark poetic text, startling imagery, music and sound design, Twa is about duality, the ways in which identities are split and reclaimed, mirroring the lives and work of the two collaborators. It holds deep contemporary resonances to the continued struggle for women to be heard, assert ownership over their lives, language, narratives, by using the creative act as a form of resistance.
Edinburgh Fringe 4-28 Aug 7.20pm, performing on alternate days with ‘Home is Not the Place’, as part of the Made in Scotland showcase. Check Summerhall Venue 26 for dates and booking.
Annie says:
Despite being from different disciplines, Flore and I bonded, perhaps because we had both lived a bit, both pulled in many directions, both deeply immersed in our art, recognising that it was a form of resistance to the ways we are expected to behave in the world, as mothers, daughters, women. There’s a difference between ‘work’ and ‘art’, though these terms are used interchangeably in theatre today, which is more about the commodification of art, art as a product, something to sell. It’s something Flore and I talk about a lot. Art is about ideas, and we’ve tried to pour ours into our show in a way that works on different levels, accessible, dark but beautiful.
‘…the pair join forces to reclaim their stories in a way that gives them power and strength enough to transform personal rites of passage into something greater…a brooding collage of absorbed wisdom across the ages.’ THE HERALD
‘…excellently served by a storytelling skill and stagecraft that do not shy away from confronting difficult questions…striking composition and sound design…visual impact that truly sets it apart’. ALL EDINBURGH THEATRE
CAST AND CREW
Writer/Performer: Annie George
Visual Artist/Performer: Flore Gardner
Composer/Sound Design: Niroshini Thambar
Director: Saffy Setohy
Associate Director: Niloo-Far Khan
Lighting Design: George Tarbuck
Lighting Programmer: Marc Lavallee
Projection Set up: Robert Motyka
Technical Stage Manager: Eve Allan
Production Manager: Cassie Smith
Producer: Diljeet Kaur Bhachu
Executive Producer: Annie George
Twa Film Credits (as seen at the Women Playwrights International Conference Montreal, June 2022)
Camera/Editor: Lorna Simpson
Second Camera: Glenda Rome
Technical Stage Manager/Additional Sound Editing: Eve Allan
Lighting Design: Maria MacDonald
Relighting: Roddy Simpson, Trent Kim
1st Assistant Director: Shilpa T-Hyland
Lighting Operator: Charlie Wallhead
Photo above: Lindsay Snedden, Lunaria Ltd
Print Artwork: Flore Gardner
SPECIAL THANKS:
Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, Caroline Newall, Callum Smith, Rachel, Richard and Gemma at NTS, John Dean, Sarah Paulley, Verity Leigh, Staff at Summerhall, Federation of Scottish Theatre
SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND, AND THE MEADOWS AWARD
Annie George 