Test The Waters

Test The Waters is a scratch event showcasing artists from the Mothers Who Make monthly social network for artists of all disciplines who happen to also be mothers. It is a chance to see something unexpected, to help nurture the tender and ferocious beginnings of new work and to experience a show that may just transport you from the sublime to the ridiculous but will definitely entertain and inspire.

Six performers have spent four days in their studios exploring their chosen artforms to share what they have discovered in the process:

In a literal and dreamlike space “hear the voices” by Alice Robinson uses half face masks to explore the evolution of language, behaviours and our very first delicate and disastrous steps.

Duo Lucy Follows and Claire Northey will explore the many stark contrasts within motherhood, in a musical piece of dark comedy.

Cathy Shiel will be working with puppets, object manipulation and sound to explore the maternal brain and those juxtaposing moments of parenting. With dramaturgy (or Drama-turkey as Cathy’s 3 year old has renamed her) by Bekkie Morgan-Nickerson.

The Day the Waves Came from Laura Bloom, is a piece of storytelling inspired by the remarkable true story of Ibu Sarjani, a woman who was rescued by an unlikely friend in the Boxing Day Tsunami that devastated her home in Ache, Indonesia in 2004.

Emily Heyworth brings us some new writing in a story about the joys, anxieties and terror of new motherhood told through the eyes of character Bel. Directed by Kayleigh Hawkins and Dramaturgy by Alex Keelan.