Interview Series - Productions - Celia Green on She is Right Here

she is right here

Should I do this? I don’t know if I should do this. Please answer me. This is a bad idea, isn’t it? Using text from journal entries, movement and encounters with strange European men, She is Right Here is a solo piece that follows a young woman trying to figure out why she isn’t doing something.

Celia Green, the artist behind She is Right Here, a production mentored by Amy Nostbakken shares details with Advisory Board Leader Sabah Haque about her creation process, and her ambitions.

Sabah What inspired you to create She is Right Here?
Celia Last September, I went to Europe alone for three months. That trip made me reconsider a lot of things, it was actually quite difficult for me. Somewhere within those difficult moments while away, I decided that I was going to make a show about the feelings that were arising, which were mostly about identity and links to home. The show has since shifted a lot since those first thoughts, but that’s how it was born!

Sabah What is your creation process like?
Celia For this show, I started creating from existing material. I had two journals that I had filled up while travelling, so I sifted through those for things that I liked. I would select phrases, ideas, or sometimes bigger chunks of text, and then work from there. My mentor, Amy Nostbakken, has been coming in once a week and would tell me which stories to expand upon, or would give me prompts for movement sequences, and then I would go and write and create those bits. Most of the creating has been done while I was alone in a room, and that was difficult but has taught me a lot about myself...there has been a lot of lying on the floor staring at the ceiling.

Sabah What has been a challenge about working on the show?
Celia It is very challenging just working with myself for the most part. If I don’t do something, or I slack on something, there is no one else to blame or to pick up the slack. There is also (unless Amy is in) no one else to feed off of or draw inspiration from when I am the only person in the room.

Sabah How would you describe your show in three words?
Celia A woman speaking.

Sabah How has the mentorship you received through the Paprika Festival benefitted your work?
Celia Amy has affected the growth of the show and my growth as an artist in so many ways! She has very high expectations, and that has pushed me a lot. Also, her being a feminist has allowed me to feel comfortable exploring those things in my work, and she makes me want to go further in exploring the fucked up shit that happens to women every day (whether or not you are in your own country). There are a million ways in which she has benefited my work, I am so so thankful to have her as a mentor!

Sabah What would you like to accomplish with your theatre career?
Celia I want to be a part of the dismantling of the structures that silence or disvalue any voice that is not straight, white, or male. Amy has talked about smashing stuff, I want to smash stuff.

~

Catch the performance of She is Right Here as apart of the 15th Annual Paprika Festival, in partnership with Native Earth Performing Arts.

When:
Tuesday May 24, 7:15pm tickets
Saturday May 28, 8:15pm tickets
Sunday May 29, 2pm tickets

Where:
Aki Studio, Daniels Spectrum Building, 585 Dundas St E

Stay tuned for the next instalment of the Advisory Board's Interview Series!