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“A dynamic exploration of sexual and emotional abuse within a relationship, and its pernicious shockwaves through the self.”
During this performance I explore the process of an abusive relationship, especially sexual and emotional. Props that I use for this piece are very symbolic and help the audience to feel exactly what victim of such relationship is going through, step by step. By using specially composed ambient music I will take the audience on the journey of joy and excitement, fall, manipulation of the abuser, through exploring traumatic physical experience of being abused, to lead them to the point that there’s always a way out. That there are paths, and people , who are keen to help. That the closed blind circle of pain may end in a positive way, and let you grow stronger than ever.
To achieve that I am using techniques of physical theatre, slow motion movement, ambient music, shibari rope work and art installation.
I have worked on this performance since 2017, and already performed it very successfully in London at the Modern Panic VIII, Rope Spirit in Prague and ANATOMY in Edinburgh and at the Manipulate Festival in Edinburgh February 2019.
Methods that I use are composed of Physical Theatre, Shibari, Aerial and Visual Arts.
“Short and sharp suspension solo.
Running at only 20 minutes, and using the most minimal of scenography (a suspended hoop, rope, a circle of knives and a single performer), Kasia Zawadzka’s solo is a bloody and brutal reflection on the trauma of abuse that manages to be eloquent and immediate, emotive and meditative. The performer suspends herself from the hoop, releasing the ropes that cut into her body, covering the stage in blood to present a symbolic journey of violence and release that, appropriately for the manipulate festival, is a reminder of the power of the visual image above language.
99+ is immediate and striking in its imagery: the blood that pours from the body, the bondage of the ropes not a reference to BDSM but the restraints imposed on the unwilling and distorted body, the circle of knives acting as a cage around the performer on the suddenly vast Traverse stage. Despite a darkly positive finale – the performer frees herself, slowly – the consequences of abuse and the painful ascent to redemption are never hidden or ignored. To escape the circle, Zawadzka walks across the knives, leaving behind a pool of blood as a final, bleak memory of her struggles.
Despite its short running time, 99+ is a complete and unflinching depiction of abuse that demonstrates the power of simplicity and the dynamics of power: harsh, unwavering and raw, it becomes a ritualistic banishing of violence, a demonstration of self-determination and a skilful use of aerial artistry placed at the service of a precise depiction of a traumatic experience.”
Part of manipulate festival 2019
