STAMPIN' IN THE GRAVEYARD Comes to Edinburgh
Performances run 31 July – 25 Aug 2025.
By: Stephi Wild Jun. 04, 2025
Exploring the human desire for connection and a sense of belonging, this immersive theatre piece uses silent disco headphones to guide the audience through the end of the world. Set in the graveyard of humanity, Stampin' in the Graveyard follows AI chatbot Rose as she sifts through the memories of a vanished civilisation, learning about the woman who created her and piecing together the human life that was. Blending poetry, soundscapes, live music, and movement within a set built from recycled electronics, the audience shapes the story in real time by interacting with Rose, choosing paths that lead to multiple endings. Rooted in the international creative team's lived experiences of migration and exile, the work traces a thread of loss and loneliness—through inherited trauma, displacement, and ecological grief—ultimately investigating how we might move toward joy.
Writer, co-creator and performer Elisabeth Gunawan said, “I don't think it's radical to say we live in frightening times—facing the destruction of our planet and the erosion of things we hold dear. I began making this show during the pandemic, when I was far from home and questioning what ‘home' really meant. As a migrant, neither the place I was born nor the place I resided in offered the safety or belonging that 'home' seems to promise. I hope Stampin' in the Graveyard can offer audiences a glimmer of hope and belonging in the chaos, even if it is fleeting.”
Elisabeth Gunawan is an award-winning writer and performer, and founder of KISS WITNESS, creating work that decolonises the imagination and fosters belonging. She is currently an associate artist with ArtsAdmin and Ad Infinitum, and part of Hampstead Theatre's INSPIRE 2024–2025 cohort. Her solo show Unforgettable Girl premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023 with support from the Charlie Hartill Fund, winning multiple awards including Best Performer at The Stage Debut Awards 2022 and Best Writing from Theatre Weekly. She has performed across the UK at venues such as Bristol Old Vic, Soho Theatre, and HOME Manchester, working with companies including Ad Infinitum and Flabbergast Theatre. As a cabaret artist, she performs as Glo Tesque with The Bitten Peach and was a 2024 finalist in Burlesque Idol. KISS WITNESS will be presenting their third show Prayers for a Hungry Ghost, at The Pit, Barbican this Autumn for a limited run 29 Oct - 1 Nov.
Stampin' in the Graveyard was first created as a concept album in 2020 and was subsequently developed into a R&D theatrical piece under the former title Promised Land at Bloomsbury Festival in 2021 & 2022. Stampin' in the Graveyard premiered a two-day sold-out run as part of VOILA! Festival at The Cockpit in 2024.
Co-creator and movement director Matej Matejka is a multi-award-winning movement and theatre practitioner and therapist, known for unlocking the body's creative potential through performance. Founder of Studio Matejka at the Grotowski Institute, he has created acclaimed theatre works, short films, and site-specific projects. Recent work includes choreographing Rhinoceros at the Slovak National Theatre and leading workshops at India's Arunachal Mahotsav. His past collaborations include Flabbergast Theatre, KISS WITNESS, Teatr ZAR, and Farm in the Cave, earning awards such as the Herald Angel (SCLAVI/Song of the Emigrant) and Total Theatre Awards (SCLAVI/Song of the Emigrant & Caesarean Section: Essays on Suicide). His short films include Pearadise (Best Foreign Film, LA Underground) and Conflict of Apathy (NUDANCE Festival).
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