Waiting (September 2017 – present)

In September 2017, after a summer of intense growing, I was consumed with wonder about the depth and power of what I had encountered and the sheer difficulty of the transformation.  In the quiet days back at home in my little terraced house in England, I spent time sitting with another friend who had herself experienced a wild summer and was now in a season of greater rest.

From the companionship and quiet communion of these days, I was filled with new insight about the Biblical story of the time spent by Elizabeth and Mary, prior to the births of John the Baptist and Jesus.  The lack of female-authored narratives within scripture had long stirred my imagination.  How would we experience faith if more of our heritage of tales had been written by women?  What does it mean to think this thought in the context of a belief in divinely-inspired scripture? 

I didn’t answer those questions but I did write this piece.

The first unfolding was written out of this period of time, and the second and third unfoldings in small glimpses born out of friendship, during the next two years.  While I would not be able to give a precise definition to the form, the piece is now three act series of monologues, from Elizabeth and Mary.  The first unfolding was performed in the domestic setting of Grindstugan at Konstepidemin in November 2018.

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Performance by Elizabeth Sercombe and Patricia Vane.

In the Biblical account narrated by the doctor Luke, Elizabeth and Mary spend time together in Elizabeth’s home, following angelic encounters foretelling the supernatural births of John and Jesus.

This performance explores and articulates the intimate stillness of waiting for things unexpected and extraordinary, within a communion of kinship and friendship.

’Waiting’.  Performance of a new piece, written and directed by Elizabeth Sercombe, in Grindstugan studio.

Performance starts at 15.’

See the event announcement at konstepidemin.se