It means that most of the time I am eager, longing for the possibility of telling you. That these possibilities might seem frightening, but not destructive, to me. That I feel strong enough to hear your tentative and groping words. That we both know that we are trying, all the time, to extend the possibilities of truth between us.

(Adrienne Rich: On Lies, Secrets and Silence, Selected Prose)

 

 

 

 

Unearthed premiered in December 2012, running for two nights with a total of five sold out shows. Created by Ruhanie Perera and Sally E. Dean in November 2012, Unearthed was an international and cross-cultural collaboration where a team of producers, costume designers and performers not just from Sri Lanka, but also Germany, Spain, Peru were an integral part. Due to the positive response and popular demand of the production in its first showing, Floating Space Theatre Company presents a rerun of Unearthed this month.

 

Unearthed – in many ways – is about journeys: journeys into and through inner and outer worlds of lies, secrets and silence, journeys through stories told through text and movement, journeys from the public into the private and journeys through spaces and sites. With Unearthed, Floating Space Theatre Company invites its audience on a journey through scenes of minimalist and absurdist nature, performed using text, movement, sound and costume. One of the creative stimuli for Unearthed is the poetry of the American writer Adrienne Rich, who died in Spring 2012, in particular ‘Twenty One Love Poems’.

 

Unearthed is Floating Space’s latest production and one that certainly challenge the concepts of performance, performance making and audience perception. A private house in Kotte is the venue for Unearthed: it’s various rooms, indoor and outdoor spaces lend frames for scenes of lies, secrets and silence, performed using theatre and dance by a cast of emerging and established Sri-Lankan theatre and dance artists comprising Jake Oorloff, Sulakshani Perera, Tracy Jayasinghe and Venuri Perera.

 

 

 

 

For Ruhanie Perera, Creative Director of Floating Space, choosing this site for Unearthed and performing in a private house is “a risk, but also an exciting decision. We are working to de-centralise the presentation of our work in Colombo, reach out to new sites and invite our audience to literally come on a journey with us to explore unusual and new settings for theatre. Unearthed is of private and intimate nature and we feel strongly about reflecting this through the venue at the same time, making the venue a part of our process and creating work in response to it.”

 

Audience members in December described the performance as: “An extremely stimulating theatrical event”, “Really enjoyed how I, as an audience member was able to feel so “close” to the performance/ performers. Clever use of the house/space and the furniture”, “Interesting concept. I was engaged throughout the performance”, “Have never seen anything like this before”. 

 

Unearthed in its initial run was made possible using public funding by Arts Council England and British Council and through the support of Floating Space Theatre, Sally E. Dean Performing Arts, Inc. as well as individual backers. 

 

Unearthed will be performed on 16th and 17th December 2013 at 5.30, 7.00pm and 8.30pm (six shows) at Dharmapala Mawatha Madiwela, Kotte. (There will be a shuttle van organized for the 8.30pm run for audiences who would require transpost to and from the venue to Colombo city.) 

 

Tickets priced at Rs. 750 can be reserved through email [email protected] or sms +94771529889.