In Our Skin* (coming in June 2022)
Connecting the lived experiences of gay men in two diverse cities across the hemisphere.
OVERVIEW
In Our Skin is a verbatim-based theatre project that highlights the lived experiences of gay men living in Birmingham (UK) & Johannesburg (South Africa). Its development began in Johannesburg in late-2017 and was expanded during the pandemic to include Birmingham through a generous commission from the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). Transcripts from a series of over 30 interviews conducted across each city will now form the basis of an original play that will be staged at MAC in June 2022.
EXPLORATORY R&D WITH MAC (Midlands Arts Centre) in 2021
The work went into a final phase of research and development (R&D) with MAC in Oct-Nov 2021. The aim was to experiment with the integration of text, music, design, & video to create a performance that captured the energy, diversity, resilience, complexity, & vibrancy of the stories shared by participants from across the two cities. The workshop explored staging ideas, allowed an opportunity for bits of interviews to be integrated into music, and helped refine a visual language for the text. This open-to-the-public exploratory R&D culminated in a public sharing at MAC, and a conversation as part of SHOUT Festival 2021.
R&D CREATIVE TEAM
Director – Greg Homann
Assistant Director – Frazer Meakin
Composer – Oliver Farrow
Designer – María Sánchez
Videographer – Rachel Bunce
R&D CAST
Thom Petty
Tomas Wolstenholme
Clint Lesch
Jason Adam
IN OUR SKIN AS PART OF SHOUT in 2020
This 35 minute work in progress version of the project was presented as part of Birmingham’s SHOUT Festival 2020. The presentation is collaged from extracts from four participant interviews, two from each city, creating four monologues performed by actors.
SHOUT FILM CREATIVE TEAM
A Project Created & Directed by Greg Homann
Video Edit by Rachel Bunce
SHOUT FILM CAST
Real Boy Gopala Davies
Khakan Vimal Korpal
Richard Graeme Rose
Given Sabelo Ndumo
FILM CREW IN BIRMINGHAM
Rachel Bunce
FILM CREW IN JOHANNESBURG
Mark Middlewick (Location Director)
James Brooke
Mike Mdlawuza
Bandile Maupa
With thanks to Deborah Kermode, Rico Johnson-Sinclair, Khaylihle Dom Gumede, Mark Middlewick, Clive Morris Productions, Evie Kissack, the National School of the Arts, Brenda Sakellarides, Film Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, Stephanie Ridings, Willem Stassen, the Market Theatre Lab, GALA Queer Archive, and all of the participants who have shared their stories as part of the In Our Skin project.
CONTACT IN OUR SKIN
Email: inourskinproject@gmail.com
DM on Twitter: @In_Our_Skin
* In Our Skin is supported by The Market Theatre Lab and GALA Queer Archive in Johannesburg. It has been developed to production under commission from Midlands Arts Centre (MAC).