One Woman takes you inside the mind of a woman living with mental illness.
One Woman is a hypnotic dreamscape.
Through binaural sound the audience is drawn into the mind of a woman who grew up with severe depression and BPD (borderline personality disorder) as she tries to find the answer to who she was, how she came to be that person, who she might have been, and who she is now.
The audience is taken right to the heart of the most difficult memories, but in an allusive rather than hit-you-on-the-head-with-it kind of way. A way that ultimately transcends the past and points the way to a different future. A future where the memories lose their grip, and with that loss, the power of the abuser fades.
The binaural sound will wrap around each audience member in an individual, protective cocoon. It allows the audience to interact with the material on their own terms. (To get the full affect of binaural sound, we recommend listening to the show on headphones.)
Artistically organic text is is built into the film for accessibility.
Cheryl will accompany her performances with an introductory talk and a Q&A session. The Q and A section will be live captioned.
This show is part of Black Gold Arts Festival 2020.
Note: You will receive a zoom link before the start of the event. Please check your email inbox, including spam/junk email for this link. Please be aware that artists are still creating and developing the works that will be shown at the festival. In the unlikely event that the link to the performance, panel or screening you have booked changes we will send you an updated ticket with the new details.
Content Warning
One Woman, which deals with some of the reasons why Cheryl grew up with severe depression, is recommended for viewers aged 14+. Trigger warnings for mentions of: suicide, sexual and emotional abuse
About Cheryl Martin
Cheryl Martin is an older black lesbian disabled theatre artist who has won awards as both writer and director.
She wrote Contact’s I Am Because We Are, inspired by life-stories of black Africans living with HIV in Manchester. Her new solo show One Woman, Rand D-commissioned by Made at HOME, won an Unlimited Wellcome Collection Partnership Award. It has now become a digital-born film with binaural sound and is headed for several festivals.
Cheryl was lucky enough to be in British Council Australia’s INTERSECT 2019-2020 cohort, and 2020’s Culture Reset, which is trying to imagine where the UK arts sector goes post-Covid-19. Plus, she’ll be part of the Bloomsbury Festival 2020’s Take Care Programme.
Credits
Writer and Performer: Cheryl Martin
Director: Juliet Ellis
Producer: Jayne Compton
Filming & Editing: Juliet Ellis
Binaural Sound: Guillaume Dujat
Visuals: Sean Clarke
Choreography: Jane Mason
Script Supervisor: Sonia Hughes
Additional Filming: Clive Hunte
Commissioned by: Unlimited & The Wellcome Trust
1st R&D Commissioned by Made at HOME
Supported by Arts Council England & STUN [Sustained Theatre Up North]
Marketing Still Image: Clive Hunte
