Unscene: Dressing Room Whispers

This performance was written and performed by Justine Agbowu as part of her commission for the show Unscene. Unscene is a production led by Zoo Co, as part of the NLHF funded heritage engagement programme at Stanley Arts.

The pieces are each standalone, based in spaces at Stanley Arts which audiences may not usually spend time in, and some you may not even know existed!

Each artist has taken inspiration from a huge wealth of history related to the building and its surrounding communities.

DRESSING ROOM WHISPERS – Justine Agbowu

Justine is a local poet and facilitator. Taking place in a dressing room, this piece is a poetry performance about a woman on the run from an organisation that doesn’t want their secret shared.

It is inspired by Mr Stanley’s book ‘The Case of Mr Fox: being his prophecies’.

Justine has taken inspiration from the mystery surrounding the ‘missing tunnels’ in Stanley Halls backstage areas, as well as the fact that much of Stanley’s heritage and history has been gathered through gossip and rumours, whispers and community storytelling, creating a sense of hearsay and mystery about some of its events. This led Justine to consider how ‘whispers in the dressing room’ might unfold into an immersive performance.