Liz – In Development

Synopsis

What if utopia means care for women’s bodies?

Liz is a hybrid form work written by Erin Lindsay that blends poetry, performance, operatic voice and electronic music to explore the impact of the Canadian housing crisis on the mental health of an isolated woman living in a low-income apartment in Montreal. The piece was workshopped as a part of the Banff 2024 Playwrights’ Lab and was in residence with Imago Theatre’s Creator’s Circle.

Liz tells the story of an elderly woman living in a low-income housing complex who believes she can hear the sung voice of God, which she calls The Signal, in her apartment building. Liz believes that if she fasts, following a specific regime with self-discipline and sacrifice, she will find a hidden object in her apartment that will unlock coordinates to a large home from her vision; a space where she can build a utopic eco-commune for herself and for the women living in her building.

Liz is a poetic performance score that hybridizes classical voice, poetry, theatre and contemporary digital design and visual art to explore the impact of the Canadian housing crisis on marginalized women, the impact of isolation on mental health, and the possibility of a utopia of mutual aid and care for women’s bodies. The work uses poetry based on data from the Canadian Natural Disaster Database to explore the link between capitalism’s impact on reproductive and climate justice.

Stay tuned for more information.

“What grows on barren ground, if the soil never turns?” – Lysistrata

Inspired By

Aristophanes’ Ancient Greek play Lysistrata.

Supported By

Banff 2024 Playwrights’ Lab

Imago Theatre’s The Creators Circle
(Development 2019)

Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal. (Development)