TEALEAF

2020/in Development.

by Holly Beasley-Garrigan, Ivy Corbin & Dee Hassan

Tealeaf (Noun): 1. leaves of tea, foretelling future. / 2. (rhyming slang) thief / 3. a reclaimed post-90’s British history told through the looting of highbrow works we couldn’t be fucked to read cos the internet exists and we’re busy being disenfranchised, over-educated, under-employed, middle-passing, class-shamed and austerity-drained so why the hell would we read your posh old fucking play. You taught us to fake it. You stole our past and our future so we’re stealing everything you own.

A sited/video/installation/performance about stealing by artists and participants who’ve experienced the sharp end of Britain’s class-system. Combining interviews, storytellings and bastardisations of classic works. Probably.

Commissioned for Bristol Old Vic’s Ferment Takeover 2020.

audience response:

(work in progress)

“It felt like a slap round the face… allusive, funny and sometimes accusatory, inviting its audience to think about theft as systemic discrimination, but also theft as an individual response to that system.” James Caig: ‘Scratching & Thieving’, HERE!

“A sick show about being working-class and taking up space.” Bristol old Vic

“A moreish exploration of class, physical and metaphorical thievings and excellent dancing.” Bristol Old Vic

“A humorous, thought-provoking take on what it means to consume and use content and culture, and the concept of thieving and permission” Bristol Old Vic

Video of WIP at Bristol Old Vic, HERE!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

'Alright. We’re Holly, Dee & Ivy. We like making weird stuff in weird places. Dee & Holly normally make sited film/projection artworks together using documentary-style interviews as a start point. Holly & Ivy normally make site-specific, immersive theatre together. We all like making work that’s anarchic, fun and socially engaged at its heart, and we care about seriously questioning the traditional ways we’re permitted to create and consume art. We’ve decided to smash all that together and see what happens. Might work. Might be shit. But who gets to decide that anyway?'