Sacred Motion - 'Mother Smith' @ The Place - Jumping for joy reviews

Sacred Motion // Mother Smith

Mother Smith Review - ‘irresistible’

Sacred Motion // Mother Smith

This autumn I had the pleasure of working for Sacred Motion (www.sacredmotion.org) on ‘Mother Smith’ as a puppeteer bringing John Agard, well known Guyanese Poet alongside Mary Smith, to life. Sacred Motion works such human and detailed observation into the work, this process was a HUGE learning on how bodies work, how we communicate, suggest, influence, perceive. I’m very excited to be continuing to explore how we bring these stories to life! This has been my first venture into puppeteering and it has been an uplifting and humbling one. Being honoured by John and Mary’s family to be able to contribute to the telling these stories and to exploring Ria’s (choreographer/director Sacred Motion) heritage has been a touching, uplifting and powerful experience.

‘Mother Smith’ was performed as part of Resolution 19 at The Place, London on the 23rd January 2019.

Mother Smith follows Mary, a Guyanese poet, as she retells her tragic past and shares with us, her poetry venturing through both light-hearted and richly thought-provoking verbal terrain.

The work seeks to demonstrate love in it’s many forms, pure and true without limitations.

Mother Smith is a puppetry-dance theatre performance based on Mary, a 75-year old Guyanese poet featured in the documentary film “The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song” by Director, Christy Garland. The audience follows Mary's story as she retells her tragic past and shares with us, her poetry. At her side is her companion voiced by the world renowned Guyanese poet, John Agard who, along with Mary, will venture through both light-hearted and richly thought-provoking verbal terrain.

’Victoria Rucinska (Sacred Motion) explores her mixed Guyanese heritage through text, music and movement with heart and humour. Densely-packed with emotion, its life-affirming, calypso-fuelled conclusion is as infectious as it is irresistible.’ - Neil Norman for Resolution 2019, The Place, London.

FULL REVIEWS can be found here: https://www.theplace.org.uk/blog/resolution-review-2019/wed-23-jan-company-concentricsacred-motionallouaqui-dance-theatre

Cast

Direction: Victoria Rucinska

Puppeteers: ‘Mary’ - Victoria Rucinska // Natalie Sloth-Richter - ‘John Agard’ - Johanna Merceron // Linzy Na Nakorn

With thanks to; Christy Garland (Film Director), The Smith Family, John Agard (featured poet), Jai Patel (Audio), Lorea Burge Badiola & Jill Fullbrook (Puppet making), Jerwood Space, Space Clarence Mews, K5 Studios (rehearsal space)

IMAGE: Lidia Crisafulli