About
Sniffing flowers
A headphone verbatim project sharing true stories of LGBTQIA+ experiences in Gloucester.
Produced by KLS & Associates in association with Strike A Light.
Generously funded by Arts Council England this project followed on from the first in our series of shows with specific communities using the headphone verbatim tool to elevate the representation of marginalised voices in the arts. Our first project in 2022 was with a schools community in East London and we created a show called Wild Wild Things. With this project, we worked with two different organisations and two different communities. in collaboration with Nottingham Playhouse and their ensemble players who meet once a week we produced a work called Nothing But a Number. With Strike a Light in Gloucester we worked with the queer community to produce Sniffing Flowers. Find out more here.
The Project.
Headphone Verbatim theatre is an intimate storytelling method that allows the audience to enter other people’s worlds. It is embodied activism. The technique allows every breath, every utterance, every idiosyncratic detail of the speaker to be brought into the room by the performer. Performers listen simultaneously to the original recordings through headphones as they perform.
We work with participants on the subject they choose to talk about. Participants are then taught the three parts of headphone technique: Interview, Edit and Performance. From over 30 recorded interviews gathered by participants in each group and from meticulous editing that participants deliver, a performance is created to platform often unheard stories and experiences.
Thank you to the project’s funding body, Arts Council England, and our partners and most importantly, to everyone who let us interview you for this project, and allowed us to share your stories!
Photos by Camilla Adams.