More Life E Programme14th -16th March 2012

Do you have a safe space in which you go to when you feel that life is becoming too intense or too much of a struggle? A place where you can escape from everything and feel protected?

Have you ever asked for More Life?

Have you ever felt as if your body has got the better of you, leading you to completely lose control of it and everything else around you? As if you are slowly decaying, leaving you vulnerable and insecure?

Inspired and created from a stimulus of Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’ ‘More life’ is a physical exploration of the struggles which are faced when the body is overridden with illness and disease. Through the splendour of physical theatre it delves into how in life we as humans are all vulnerable to the inevitability of death and the struggle that we face when we desire to keep on living...

More Life for me has been a physical and emotional exploration for me, the piece for me is about answering how vulnerable we are as beings and how to embody and be sensitive to disease and death in physical theatre. Making sure you are communicating with the audience and taking them through the journey with you. This mirrors the need for communication and contact with those most special to you in life and the natural draw and need for human

contact and support. -Lily Asquith

The Process

Over the past couple of months the More Life team have been studying Tony Kusher’s ‘Angels in America’ in great depth, drawing out themes that appear most prominent such as disease, denial, the innate sense of control and trust within humans and the desire for somewhere to feel safe in times of despair.

The analysis began as a discussion about the steps in which disease infects when entering the body and the psychological processed in which people undergo when coping with disease and the inevitability of death. The cast explored these themes through the process of bodystorming, a technique of physically experi-encing something such as denial, in order to derive and create new ideas. Body-storming focuses on how people react to their environment and the people around them, concentrating on the subconscious choices that may influence their reaction. Bodystorming goes beyond brainstorming, giving ideas a physi-cal form by acting out the various contexts, enabling a greater understanding and empathy.

After familiarising ourselves with the themes and subsequent subconscious re-actions, the cast set about compiling a production to reflect this process. The production consists of scenes directed by several members of the cast, either individually or as a group. Working closely with the sound and lighting design-ers to create an ambient space illustrating the struggle for More Life….

The More Life Company

CastAmy GerlisCharly GabrielEmily HorganEmily TruemanFadia QaramanGemma HillHannah King Joanna RosenfeldLily AsquithNyla LevyOlivia PalmerSarah BennettSimone BassStephanie Kirk

CrewSimon Jarvis ( Production Manager)Zoe Kapsalis (Production Manager)Theo Chadha (Designer)Vicki Marks (Designer)

More Life would like to give special thanks to:Steve Ansell, Alice Clarke, Chris Meg-ginson, Jess Rowland, Selina Riley, Ian Lindley, Bryan Brown and Kelly Preece.

More Life Media:www.morelife2012.blogspot.com/www.twitter.com/#!/morelifepciFacebook: More Life

‘More Life’ is an intense, exciting piece of physical theatre about the human condition, effectively exploring the undeniably complex topics of life, death and illness. Something which I have found to be particu-larly fascinating is the fact that death, which is an inevitable aspect of everyone’s life, is a topic that is so rarely spoken about, sometimes even

ignored, and the reasons behind this. - Fadia Qaraman

All photos used in the programme were takien during the rehearsal