Hannah Gagen, 14 January 2017

This question didn't answer ‘what are we going to do about theatre and performing

arts?’ Rather it helped some of us in the group answer some questions about our

stories of missing a body part.

There was one, if not two notable outcomes of the session. One was individually we

may continue or start to create work based on what we are missing. Some of us had

already made works across the art forms, whether music, or visual arts about our

experiences. The other was that interestingly, what also brought us together was the

fact that it wasn't what we were missing, but what we had in common, which was a

shared experience of sorts. The experiences weren't experienced at the same time,

nor place, but they felt bonding in some way, honest that we had spoken about them

frankly, together.

Broadly we discussed how best to record these experiences if we were to make work

from them. write, make, compose? Themes of confidence, language, isolation, frank

conversations, honesty, care, shock were uttered. Conversations about what we were

like before, and how we are now.

Ironically, writing this seemed like one of the hardest parts of the session for me. I

wanted to make sure I've captured what we said, but without being too personal. If

anyone who was in the session wants to add or amend, please do. Hopefully I have

covered it in a way you're all happy with.