Elijah W Harris in And The Rest of Me Floats at the Bush Theatre by Helen Murray
I was born in 1994, then came windows 95,
And I would dive online to be the true me –
A 2cm avatar with a denim mini and a high pony.
Online all the time, to avoid conversation and the frustration of being a he, she, they or me…
I felt free.
And The Rest Of Me Floats is all about the messy business of gender. Performers from across the trans, non-binary, and queer communities weave together autobiographical performance, movement, pop songs, stand-up and dress-up in this anarchic celebration of gender expression and identity.
Playful and powerful, And The Rest Of Me Floats explores how it feels to live in a society where you are regularly categorised and policed. ‘Do you see me?’. Beyond the questions, the confusion, and the anger – ‘do you really see me?’
Ben Buratta is founder and artistic director of Outbox. For Outbox he has directed Affection (The Glory), HOOKUP (Hackney Showroom, Contact), You Could Move (Arcola, Contact), Reach Out and Touch Me (Shoreditch Town Hall), and The Front Room (Drill Hall, mac) and curated and produced Outbox Snapshots (Arcola). Other credits include Rocket Girl (Minack Theatre), Quirks (Southwark Playhouse) Tasty (Arcola), and a wide range of projects and productions for communities across the UK. He regularly collaborates with queer artists and theatre-makers to offer creative support.
Ben is a lecturer and director at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where he is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD in creating rehearsal strategies and dramaturgies for queer performance. He has been invited to speak about this work internationally, most recently Belgrade, Boston, Sao Paulo.
Coral is a performer and movement director who works across theatre, television and film. Recent movement director/choreographer credits include: Britannia – Season 2 (Sky Atlantic), Humans (Channel 4), Game of Thrones (HBO), The Winter’s Tale (Globe), Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich (RSC), One Love: The Bob Marley Musical (Birmingham Rep), Macbeth (Globe), King Lear (Royal Exchange), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (NT). Director debut: Run it Back (Talawa/Hackney Showroom).
Dominic is a Sound Designer, Composer and Music Producer who has a keen interest in developing new work and implementing sound and music at an early stage in a creative process. Dominic is a graduate from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where he developed specialist skills in collaborative and devised theatre making, music composition and installation practices. His work often fuses found sound, field recordings, music composition and synthesis. Recent credits include; Skate Hard, Turn Left (Battersea Arts Centre), Roundabout Season 2018 (Paines Plough), The Assassination of Katie Hopkins (Theatre Clywd), Ramona Tells Jim (Bush Theatre), I am a Tree (Jamie Wood), Box Clever (nabokov), Roundabout Season 2017 (Paines Plough), Gap In The Light (Engineer), Broken Biscuits (Paines Plough), Roundabout Season 2016 (Paines Plough), With A Little Bit Of Luck (Paines Plough), The Human Ear (Paines Plough), The Devil Speaks True (Goat and Monkey), Run (Engineer), ONO (Jamie Wood).
Neil trained at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama as an Actor-Musician. Theatre credits include Threepenny Opera Theatr Clwyd, Seymour in Little Shop Of Horrors Haymarket Basingstoke, Mary and The Shaman BAC, Mother makes Three, Oldham Colloseum and the National Tour of Happy End. He has written music for TV and Film- including The Muppets Most Wanted which he considers his best and most ridiculous work. He went on to be an Associate at the National Theatre and Drama consultant at the Barbican before founding The Primary Shakespeare Company, an Arts Educational Charity working with mainstream and specials schools across London.
Rūta is a London based freelance designer for performance. She trained in Performance Design and Practice at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, graduating with a first class diploma in 2013. She was a shortlisted finalist for the Linbury Prize for Stage Design 2013.
Her recent public theatre design work include SLIME (Hull City Libraries), A New Order (The Yard / Live Drafts), And The Rest of Me Floats (Rose Lipman / Birmingham Rep), Girl Meets Boy (The Yard / First Drafts), Sea Fret (Old Red Lion), Open Court (Royal Court), Mumburger (The Archivist’s Gallery), The Session (Soho Upstairs), Primetime (Royal Court).
Rūta is a returning visiting professional at Central School of Speech and Drama where she works with Drama, Applied Theatre and Education students to create designs for their devised pieces.
She is associate designer for The Herd Theatre and has repeatedly worked with Outbox Theatre and inclusive theatre companies Blink Dance Theatre and Face Front.
Soph is an independent producer whose experience includes work at Bush Theatre, Royal Court and Forced Entertainment. Theatre credits include: Skate Hard, Turn Left (BAC); DIGS (CPT, Pleasance, Pleasance Courtyard); The Last Straw (Ovalhouse); People Show: 50th Year (Toynbee Studios); Give Me Your Skin (BAC, Marlborough, Bike Shed), BABY/LON (Hackney Showroom).
