Gestures of Repair — With Roanna Mitchell

Time: 2-4pm UK time

Location: on Zoom

Being human and alive, together and alone, is difficult. And made harder in a pandemic. In our relationships — with other humans and with our selves — we can often get stuck in the binary of ‘doer’ and ‘done-to’; an opposition which feels distressing, is hard to move out of, and which dominates our current social discourse. To repair this relationship, we need the help of a Third; of a space which does not belong to either side, but which could not exist without the individual input of both.

In this practical research session, Roanna will draw upon, and speak to, her work in mental health contexts, and explore with participants how familiar creative tools can be harnessed as ‘gestures of repair’ in very concrete ways. We will examine such gestures in relation to our relationship with our selves in creative work, and in our relationship with others in collaboration, dialogue and feedback language. The session is relevant to artists, teachers, those working in community or therapeutic contexts, and anyone interested in the ‘third space’ between theatre and therapy.

Roanna Mitchell is a Co-Director of The Chekhov Collective.  She is a lecturer, performance-maker and movement person, and course leader of the MA Physical Acting at the University of Kent. Her work explores performance in the intersection between acting and dance, and the ‘third space’ between theatre and therapy. In connection with the latter, she is the lead on the participatory project ‘Inappropriate’ Anger which interrogates the consequences of BPD diagnosis, and designer of MACRO Map, a reflective tool to draw connections between creative work and other life areas. She has directed/created/movement-directed performance internationally, often working site-responsively and including collaborations with Richard Schechner (Imagining O, UK/US/India), Platform 7 (Resting Place, Ramsgate /Charing Cross Station / Folkestone seafront) and Accidental Collective (Here’s Hoping, Theatre Royal Margate / Oval House London). Roanna is a member of Michael Chekhov UK and MC Europe, and Associate Editor for the Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal.