GETTING PHYSICAL

by Brackets Digital

In part of my time, when I’m not working for Park Theatre, I am training to be a holistic massage therapist. While this may not seem directly relevant, the connection of art and science is often explored in theatre and there are many threads between the two elements that I find increasingly interesting.

On one level just think of the everyday uses we have for describing how we feel or think:  a ‘need for room to breathe’ or  ‘my heart is in my mouth’ . Our physical feelings relate to our thoughts and vice versa. Most of the time in a split, unconscious second.

Our lives affect our bodies and our emotional wellbeing. They intertwine and represent each other. For me, theatre explores and sometimes explains life, how we are and how we see ourselves fitting into the world.  Often an artists’ attempt to make sense of these things are what draws in an audience. And, if done well , can be the difference between a great experience in the theatre and a disappointing one.

I’m finding myself particularly drawn to pieces that tackle subjects of illness. It is a way of learning and understanding  the huge and complex array of conditions that take up a lot of our lives - when our bodies or minds ‘go wrong’ or ‘let us down’  -  a story is a brilliant way of giving us time to consider,  and a perceptive, creative look at these experiences.

I am itching for Park to start programming so that I know I can see an array of work, close to home, that will make me think and feel to the tips of every nerve. I want my nervous system to secrete adrenaline making my heart beat faster, my stomach flip and my pupils dilate;  my eyes to water and my facial muscles to ache in a smile.