Riverside Theatres and Outlandish Arts present
Caroline Bowditch
Falling in Love with Frida
4 - 5 March
Performers
Caroline Bowditch
Welly O’Brien
Marta Masiero
Auslan Interpreter and Performer
Yvonne Strain
Voice and Author of Letter
Wendy Yelland
Creatives
Artistic Director and Choreographer
Caroline Bowditch
Set and Costume Design
Katherina Radeva
Lighting Design
Emma Jones
Music
danbeats
Dramaturgy
Jemima Levick
Artistic Advisor
Joan Clevillé
Text Advisor
Luke Pell
Costume Makers
Jennie Lööf
Carys Hobbs
Photography
Anthony Hopwood
United Kingdom Set Makers
J&B Scenery
Australian Set Maker
David Barratt
United Kingdom Producers
Amanda Chinn
Dani Rae
Australian Producer
Gaele Sobott, Outlandish Arts
Production Manager
Emma Jones
United Kingdom Technical Manager
Laura Hook
Australian Technical Manager
David Barratt
United Kingdom Marketing Manager
Vicky Wilson
Australian Marketing Manager
Tammy Brennan
Outlandish Arts and Caroline Bowditch gratefully acknowledge the support of Australia
Council for the Arts, the NSW Government through the Lifetime Care and Support
Authority and Arts NSW, Creative Scotland, the British Council, Theatre Works and
Urban Theatre Projects.
About Falling In Love with Frida
I know you so well.
I know the things you like to eat,
The clothes that hang inside
your wardrobe,
I know where you sleep,
the music you lay down to.
I’ve sat in your garden and
at your table.
I know you left your mark
on everything, including
their hearts.
They all fell in love with you.
I’ve never met you,
but I’ve done it too.
Falling in Love with Frida is an intimate and enticing performance that explores the life,
love and legacy of painter Frida Kahlo.
Frida was born on 6 July, 1907, in Coyoacán, Mexico City. Considered one of Mexico’s
greatest artists, Frida Kahlo began painting after she was severely injured in a bus
accident. Frida was politically active and married fellow communist artist Diego Rivera
in 1929. She exhibited her paintings in Paris and Mexico before her death in 1954.
The music that you hear as you arrive is the music that played in Frida’s house, the
music she lay down to.
Biographies
Caroline Bowditch
Artistic Director, Choreographer, Performer
Originally from Australia, Caroline Bowditch is an established Glasgow-based
independent disabled performance maker, choreographer and provocateur.
Caroline is a founding member of Weave Movement Theatre (Melbourne) and The
FATHoM Project (Newcastle). From April 2008 to March 2012, Caroline held the role of
Scottish Dance Theatre’s Dance Agent for Change.
In December 2010 she received an Unlimited Commission to create Leaving Limbo
Landing as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the London 2012 Olympics. Caroline is an
Associate Artist at Dance4 (Nottingham) and Artist in Association with Paragon Music
(Glasgow). She is a Visiting Professor at Coventry University and a consultant with
Skånes Dansteater (Malmo, Sweden).
Welly O’Brien
Performer
Welly was lucky enough to receive an apprenticeship in 1998 with the Arts Council
England shadowing Candoco Dance Company. In 2000 she joined them full-time and
toured and taught with them both nationally and internationally until 2004.
Since then, she has had a family and freelances both in the United Kingdom and
abroad. She has performed in works by Javier De Frutos, Finn Walker, Doug Elkins,
Nigel Charnock, Hofesh Shechter. Welly has also performed in Trisha Brown’s Floor of
the Forest, 2012 Paralympics Closing Ceremony and doing aerial work Scarabeus,
Graeae and La Fura dels baus. She is thoroughly enjoying touring Falling in Love with
Frida with Caroline and her team.
Marta Masiero
Performer
Marta was born in Verona, Italy, where she combined her dance training with classical
studies in literature and philosophy. She graduated from London Contemporary Dance
School and went on to complete her Postgraduate Studies as an apprentice with
Scottish Dance Theatre, under the direction of Janet Smith.
As a freelancer she has been involved in a wide diversity of dance projects, performing
nationally and internationally. Choreographers with whom she has worked include
Darren Ellis, Ben Wright, Ben Duke, Janet Smith, Sally Owen and Thomas Small.
In the last few years Marta has been developing her interest in physical theatre,
exploring a multidisciplinary approach to performance, opening up to theatre practices
as a way to broaden her movement background.
Yvonne Strain
Performer
Yvonne was born in Glasgow, Scotland. From a young age, British Sign Language
became her second language. She progressed this formally and began her career as
an interpreter at the age of 20.
In 1995, Yvonne joined Glasgow City Council Sign Language Interpreter Service and
trained with Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters, becoming fully
registered in 2000.
Yvonne remained with Glasgow City Council Sign Language Interpreter Service for 7
years, gaining further experience within Signpost, Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle
and Deaf Connections in Glasgow before becoming freelance.
Her first experience of theatre interpreting was Lanark by Alasdair Gray, performed at
the Edinburgh International Festival in 1995. Since then she has interpreted over 250
different performances ranging from community theatre to full scale professional
productions, including improvisations, opera, Shakespeare and pantomime.
Inspired by deaf audience feedback, Yvonne has developed an interpretive
performance style, often integrating into performances and consulting on theatre
aesthetics and access.
While being kept busy with a young son, Yvonne continues to be committed to
personal and professional development, working with the deaf theatre skills short
course at the royal conservatoire of Glasgow and gaining skills in international sign and
knowledge of arts relating to the deaf community worldwide.