Expect to be Moved

Here's what Miriam Barr had to say in response to the reTHiNK Possible Worlds cast interview.

What's your role in the show?

I’m one of the poets and I play the Searcher. But my character’s also got hints of the survivor about her.   

What is reTHiNK Possible Worlds and what is it about?

reTHiNK Possible Worlds is a multimedia theatre show. The seven poets have collaboratively pooled our experiences to draw a different picture of what mental unwellness is about and what it takes to get through it. To us, these various experiences appear to be the result of our efforts to navigate our way through life and what it throws at us, and this has formed our central theme. Some of those efforts lead us to unexpectedly difficult places but from these difficult places, have come great insights and new directions. Our characters find that when they connect, their lives shift, they are able to rethink their possible worlds.

How do you relate to the themes in the show?

There’s not a single poem in the show where I think ‘oh I’m not like that at all’ – over and over again I relate to the experiences people describe.  We’ve got all these different characters, and we are all different people behind them, but there is a universal theme of desire for growth, some kind of searching that emerged naturally of its own accord. It was really inspiring to see over those first few weeks of workshopping truly how much we have in common as people coexisting on the planet. It's such a pity we don't realise this in our everyday lives more often. 

Personally, I’ve had some difficulty navigating the maze of life – it’s thrown me some rough curve balls at times, often when I was really young and ill equipped to catch them. I’m part of that huge 40% of Kiwis who have already experienced mental illness in their lives and I’ve come through it. I wholeheartedly back up the idea that madness, mental unwellness, disorder or whatever you want to call it is part of the experience of navigating the maze of life. When we understand it this way, we open up a thousand little possibilities for change and connection. When we view it as an illness, genetic disorder or brain disease or as abnormal or irrational we close down those possibilities. reTHiNK Possible Worlds is about opening things right up again.

What has it been like creating this production?

It’s been inspiring, challenging, fun, nerve-wracking, rich and new. It really stretches your poetry legs to do a project like this, not to mention your performance legs. We were given what Christian (Jensen, Creative Director) calls a ‘skeleton script’ – which is an outline of the story in a series of parts. It sketches a journey into and out of distress. We each picked the parts that we personally related to and these became like our writing exercises – the bouncing board from which we would create our contributions to the story. I really liked having that bit of direction, but then being given the freedom to interpret that as I wanted, through my own lens, my own history. I think it’s made for a really genuine show. I feel privileged to be working with these dancers, musicians and visual artists that we have on board too. I love a good collaboration and this one has exceeded all of my expectations. I am a happy cat.  

What can an audience member expect to encounter?

You can expect a stage show that takes you on a journey through a spectrum of emotion and leaves you feeling ultimately inspired about life. Expect first-class contemporary dance. Expect shadow work. Expect saxophone. Expect electric guitar. Expect bass. Expect cello. Expect poetry. Expect snatches of song. Expect duets. Expect honesty. Expect to be moved.  

Why do you think people should make sure they see reTHiNK Possible Worlds?

Quite simply, you will never see anything like it anywhere else. 

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Miriam Barr has been part of The Literatti since its inception. She has performed her poetry from Whangarei to Dunedin and had her poetry published in such places as JAAM, PoetryNZ, Landfall, Enamel and Blackmail Press. She is a creative writing tutor at Toi Ora Live Art Trust, a mental health promoter for Like Minds, Like Mine and service director of her own recovery tools website called Engage Aotearoa. For four years she edited the independent poetry zine Side Stream and last year organised New Zealand's first ever poetry brothel to raise funds for the zine's final issues. 

reTHiNK Possible Worlds is directed by Christian Jensen and performed by The Literatti, Etched Dance Productions and three live musicians, with film created by the public and a set created by visual artist Penny Howard. Tickets are available online at www.theliteratti.com with limited tickets available on the door. Find more info on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=278609398817194.