FALL WITH ME

Imagine feeling faintly aware of your heart beating amongst a hundred other hearts.
Connected to those around you on a cellular level as though you’re all vibrating at the same frequency. Spines tingling; breath undulating; hearts beating in unison. 

What does it take to share something as intimate as a heartbeat with a stranger. Does it take vulnerability? Openness? The willingness to see those around us, and to let ourselves be seen. 

Perhaps it feels like flying so high that nothing can touch you.

Or an emotion so intense you don’t know how to survive it when it hits you. 

Like crying inconsolably. Tears that fall so thick you don’t know how you have any left.

Or like laughing with your whole body. The kind of laugh that makes your cheeks cramp and leaves wrinkles in your skin.

Feelings so strong you can’t find the words.

Much of our current human experience has become distanced from truth. We are fearful of vulnerability and how it might shatter the artifice that shields us. The armour we don to manage this experience and numb ourselves of our own heartbeat.

NICA’s second-year ensemble is directed by Katie Cawthorne, theatrical storyteller with an interest in the nuances of the human psyche and exploring how to convey complex experiences through a language unique to the body. With set design by Rachel 'Stoz' Stone (ON/OFF, NICA, 2023); costume design by Ki Martin (Within These Walls, NICA, 2023); sound design by Jesse Vivante (Metaphysical, National Gallery of Victoria, 2023); lighting design by Kris Chainey (ON/OFF, NICA, 2023); and wardrobe assistance from Melbourne Polytechnic Costume Design students. 

Fall With Me searches for a world where we can feel safe to submit to our own heartbeat.
Can we shed our armour and let ourselves be seen?