A Northumbria MA Theatre and Performance graduate
is touring the stage to explore ideas around stress and how we deal with it in modern
day society.
Holly Gallagher, who is also an Associate Artist at multi-art form performing
arts centre ARC Stockton, will be performing in Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End), a show she
was inspired to create based on her own personal experiences after finishing
university.
The show, which follows a storytelling format, directs the audience into
thinking about their relationship with stress and focuses predominantly on
three characters: He, She, and They – three people who are leading stressful
lives.
In order for Holly’s show to feel relevant, she interviewed participants from
around the word, asking people about their own experiences of stress in their
lives, how they cope, and what relaxes them. From these interviews, she was
able to form a series of narrative events and build characters.
She said: “I had the idea for this show in the first year after I graduated
from my MA at Northumbria. I'm quite a stressed out person and I ended up going
through a patch of unemployment, followed by taking on far too much work and
wearing myself too thin.
“I wanted to make something that explored the pressures that people feel in
life, as well as why so many people seem to describe themselves as stressed or
worn out or living on coffee and never taking time to stop. I want to make work
about the world we live in now, and so stress felt very apt in 2017 when I
first started developing the show.”
Holly initially applied to make her show through Bridging the Gap, a project developed at ARC Stockton, and got through to the interview stages for this process. Whilst
her application wasn’t successful, she went on to receive several offers of
support from venues and was able to develop the show following a successful
Arts Council England bid.
She also received support in producing the show through her association at ARC
Stockton, and was successful in applying for mentorship from Third Angel, a
contemporary theatre company, who helped to develop the show in its early
stages.
The 25-year old, who is originally from
Thornaby, Teeside, began her tour in Edinburgh in February this year and will
carry out her final performance at Northern Stage, in Newcastle, on 14 May.
Liz Pavey, Senior Lecturer in the
Department of Arts at Northumbria University, said: “It’s always brilliant to see our MA graduates reaching audiences
nationally with their work.
“The theatre Holly created while she was a student here was astute,
sophisticated work that addressed significant topics in engaging and
imaginative ways. She is a very gifted scriptwriter, theatre maker and
performer and I can’t wait to see her new solo show when it comes to Newcastle later
this month.”
Speaking of the support she received and the inspiration behind her projects,
Holly said: “After discovering Third Angel and Daniel Bye, who is the director
and part of my creative team, I became interested in making my own work.
“It wasn't until I did my MA in Theatre and Performance that I first had a go
at writing and performing my own work, and eventually created my first solo
show Before (the line is lost) which was about cosplay (costume
play), comic conventions, and consent. This had a smaller tour, but in making
and touring this show I got to know a lot more venues which helped me build
networks and connections for when Tensile Strength's tour was being put
together.”
You can find out more about Holly’s show Tensile Strength (or How
to Survive at Your Wit’s End) here.
Holly also actively works as a director and will
be previewing a show called My Mate Ren by Tamsin Daisy Rees at Live
Theatre in May, which she is hoping to put a tour together for.
To find out more about Northumbria’s MA Theatre and Performance course, visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/courses/theatre-and-performance-dtfthp6/
