Charlotte Spencer Projects Presents WRITTEN IN THE BODY at Lilian Baylis Studio

Acclaimed company Charlotte Spencer Projects returns to Sadler's Wells with Written in the Body on Thursday 3 & Friday 4 November, in Lilian Baylis Studio.

Following a decade of outdoor participatory works, most notably, Walking Stories and Is this a Waste Land? - both immersive performances through headphones, Charlotte Spencer creates her first full-length theatre work. In 2022 Spencer was co-commissioned by Sadler's Wells, South East Dance and Brighton Festival to make Written in the Body, which premiered at the festival on 24 May 2022.

In this duet about memory, touch and consent, two dancers, Petra Söör and Louise Tanoto move through a series of personal and shared memories of tactile encounters with people, places and environments. The specificity of the performer's words and movement combined with sound by Alberto Ruiz Soler, lighting by Marty Langthorne and design by Bethany Wells bathes audiences in sensation. Dramaturgy is by Orrow Amy Bell, and costume is by Shanti Freed.

Written in the Body centres embodied experience as the site of political action, radical care and protest, encouraging audiences to consider the power of their own bodies. Consent is presented as constantly shifting, often lingering in the space between yes and no.

Details of personal experience are used as a tool for speaking to universal points about touch, our primary language for communication, connection and compassion, intersecting across culture, race, religion and identity. Written in the Body acknowledges the complex nature of touch particularly in the aftermaths of #metoo and Covid-19: touch as fundamental; touch as potential exploitation, violation, something to fear.

Written in the Body marks a new chapter in Charlotte Spencer's choreographic output; not only because of this return to theatre, but also through the access offers embedded into the creative process. The work was developed with sensitively integrated audio description and BSL interpretation. Charlotte Spencer has brought learning and experience from creating participatory outdoor performances into the theatre by finding ways to prioritise the sensory, embodied experience for audiences.

Charlotte Spencer's work is motivated by her interest in engaging with important social and ecological questions and to find ways to express those enquiries through intimate live encounters.

Charlotte Spencer said, "Having built a strong relationship with Sadler's Wells over many years, I am absolutely delighted to be presenting my work at Lilian Baylis Studio for the first time. Following a decade of making immersive performances outdoors, Written in the Body is my first full length theatre work. It marks our London premiere of Written in the Body, and the second outing for this new show about touch and consent.

The show aims to bathe audiences in sensation, prioritising embodied experience - whether that's the feeling of sunlight on your face, lying in grass at dawn, unwanted touch or the touch of someone's gaze. It's there for the audience to feel as well as to witness. It acknowledges relationships with touch have been distorted, removed, damaged, and yet it is ultimately an uplifting experience that offers audiences space to process their own joy, troubling feelings, grief, sense of aliveness and much needed collective healing."

Sadler's Wells Producer, Robyn Cabaret said, "I am thrilled we are continuing our support of Charlotte to bring her work into the context closest to us - the theatre. This work is delicate and moving. I hope that audiences take time to be with what arises for them; tuning into sensation and our relationship to not only one another but our environment, and to the very present societal shifts we are collectively feeling our way through."

Brighton Festival Executive Producer, Beth Burgess said, "I could not have been more proud to be a part of commissioning this beautiful work by Charlotte Spencer. Her artistry and care in making this work not only beautifully poignant but fully accessible is thrilling. I was captivated throughout. This work needs to be seen by many more, it is a gift."

Co-commissioned by Sadler's Wells, Brighton Festival and South East Dance with funding from Arts Council England. Additional support from University of Sussex.

Audio Description, BSL Interpreted Performance & Post-Show Talk on Thursday 3 November at 8 pm

This performance contains haze, loud music and bright lighting, with themes of consent, memory and touch.

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