“The green one ... The narrow one ... Always pale ... The pale eyes ... The look they shed before ... The way they opened after ... Spirit made light ... Wasn't that your description, Joe? . .”
'Before She Goes'
'Before She Goes' is an innovative undertaking inspired by Samuel Beckett's 1966 TV play 'Eh Joe.' This project began its development in December 2021 and has since undergone four distinct stages of creation, delving into themes such as 'the heavenly powers' encompassing femininity, immortality, and the tumultuous nature of love, which can sometimes consume everything.
The narrative revolves around a single summer night, which determines the fate of a character described as 'the Green one... the narrow one... always pale...' and the natural world that bears witness to this event. The aim of the performance is to break away from the conventional and rigid structure of 'Eh Joe,' which primarily analyzes Joe's response to a disembodied female voice in his mind. Instead, it seeks to give tangible form and embodiment to multiple female characters, thereby rendering 'BSG' an experimental endeavor.
BSG originated from the urgent need to address the pervasive issue of undervaluing women as human beings, perceiving them as less than they truly are, and the inherent dangers they face in their daily lives. The sheer magnitude of harassment and violence against women is profoundly disheartening, prompting a call to action and advocating for changes in societal perceptions of women. It serves as a platform to express resistance against taking women for granted and condemning them for expressing dissenting opinions.
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... This all new to you, Joe? ... Eh Joe?
STAGE 1
First four stages of ‘BSG’ were built upon the last scene of the play, which reveals a story of the suicide of the Green one. It is very important for me as a female and director to make this story universal by creating an embodiment of many characters, as Beckett in my opinion described something still so common which gives us a chance to review the experience of life as a young woman in 2023.
Outcome of the first R&D
Audio scenography for the play, composed by connecting ‘Metamorphosis II’ by Filip Glass with a text of the final scene of the play, read by five actresses.
Voices R&D:
1. Renee Eskilden
2. Bella Speaight
3. Laura Lucia Duque
4. Grace Ackary
5. Keziah Joseph
'Ah, she knew you, heavenly powers!.. Faint lap of the sea through the open window...Gets up in the end and slips out as she is...Moon...Stock...Down the garden and under the viaduct...Sees from the seaweed the tide is flowing...Goes on down to the edge and lies down at the edge of her side...'
‘Eh Joe’ Samuel Beckett
STAGE 2
January - March 2022
Femininity
Feminine
Femme
Female
Male
Man
Mine
Mine
Me
Me”
Sohaila Ferrier;
‘Before She Goes’ text devised during R&D at The Directors Playground
“The Power of Femininity
Is to be able to command the curvature and shape of your brain, while crushing a continent with the tip of your tongue.
To think, To breathe, to know, to want, to own.
Feminine”
Who the F*** is Joe?
STAGE 3
March- April 2022
STAGE 4
Material from rehearsal for the forth stage BSG exploration: Short Movement Video
Movement Director: Tamara Hayes Elliott
Actress: Katarzyna Pachelska
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Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
May- June 2022
Video material ffrom4 sttage of development of the project "before She Goes""; BSG exploration: Short Movement Video
Movement Director/ co-creator: Tamara Hayes Elliott
Actress: Katarzyna Pachelska
Voices:
Voice 1: Isabella Speaight
Voice 2: Keziah Joseph
Video: Aurelia Bergs
Video Editing:
Ewa Emini
Tamara Hayes Elliot
Sound Design:
Tamara Hayes Elliot
Ewa Emini
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Ewa Emini, Tamara Hayes Elliot
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Hampstead Heath, London, June 2022
Experimental
Movement Short
2023
