Did you know that pillows can talk? Did you know each pillow has its own story, thoughts, ideas, and desires?
In «Pillows», the performance based on the play «Pillow’s Soul» by Olzhas Zhanaydarov, almost all characters are pillows. They live together, and they share stories and dreams with each other. But then, suddenly, a new neighbor arrives, utterly similar to our pillows on the outside but totally different inside. Sometimes it can be hard to embrace unusual things in our lives, for both people and pillows.
«Pillows» created a multi-sensory experience for both actors and the audience.
The rehearsing process was quite an experiment. Several training sessions aimed to explore the world of smells, tastes, sounds, light, space, and the surrounding environment. Those sensory rehearsals were continuous interactions of the actor’s bodies with various objects and structures. Each practice ended with an in-depth discussion on self-awareness and sensory experience gained during the rehearsal.
Our audience felt the energy evolving from dialogues of the very unusual characters, still-life objects, to be precise. These characters took the audience to the world of self-reflection, dream-sharing, and imagination.
«The integrity of the drama performer lies in an ability to recognize and properly handle the substance of the play script. This skill is of utmost essential and is a talent on its own: getting to the bottom of what the author’s content can tell you about, what the properties and qualities it possesses, so it would be for an actor to transform all of it into the stage role/part playing.»
Yan Fabr
Fool House Art Collective is a 501(c)(3) theatrical nonprofit comprised of artists with roots in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Our mission is to celebrate and share the diverse cultures of these regions with the Pacific Northwest community through innovative, experimental, immersive, and physical theater. We strive to preserve cultural heritage, enrich local cultural life, promote cross-cultural understanding, and foster social cohesion.