Just before the pandemic struck we were lucky enough to perform our new show, Wicked Women, a celebration of extraordinary women who changed the world, with a cast of 10 incredible young women.
As part of the process we asked the women, the groups we work with and anyone we knew, “who are your heroines”? Known and unknown. We had a multitude of responses, and included some of them at the end of our piece, with graphics from First Take, and sound from Maya Angelou’s incredible poem, Still I Rise. What was beautiful, was the mixture of very personal responses from, “my grandmother who raised me”, to a teacher, to the first woman in space, and to many, many incredible women whose place in history had not been fully acknowledged because they were female.
We couldn’t include all the responses, so for RISE Together, we have created a short film, where a variety of women talk about their heroines. This is accompanied by graphics from First Take, an all-female film company based in Liverpool and moments from our performance of Wicked Women.
Although the pandemic is not directly spoken about in this piece, we discuss people that inspire us, or have inspired us, women who have made us what we are today, or women we look to, to help us through difficult times, and perhaps right now to help us through this crisis, rising continuously. As Maya Angelou says “…and still like dust we rise”.
With contributions from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds, this unique short piece acts as a reminder that throughout history, women have risen time and time again. And will continue to do so.
About Tmesis Theatre
Tmesis Theatre create, develop and share passionate and playful physical theatre through performance, participation, and an international festival Physical Fest.
Established in 2003, Tmesis has toured nine original shows, performed at over 75 venues, in 11 countries to 21 festivals worldwide, winning the award for Best Choreography: United Solo Festival, New York 2016.
As a female led company, they are currently making work with, for and about women, including the recent Wicked Women, a performance celebrating extraordinary women who changed the world.
Website: www.tmesistheatre.com
Twitter: @TmesisTheatre
Instagram: @tmesistheatreliverpool
Facebook: @tmesistheatre
RISE Together on BBC Radio Merseyside
Want to find out more about the RISE Together programme? Culture Liverpool’s Head of Arts & Participation and RISE curator, Alicia Smith, took part in the below BBC Radio Merseyside interview with Jermaine Foster. Just press play and skip to 51.50 to catch up now.
