Bat got your tongue?

How can we tell stories without language or dialogue? With spit, bin bags, leotards and a tiny old man, answers Lucy Hodge-Sellers, with their curated evening of improvised theatre, titled ‘Bat got your tongue?’ Inviting various performance groups to experiment with the communicative potential of music, puppetry and clowning; the result was a unique night of theatre held at United Cowboys. Spontaneous and raw, the narratives unfolded live on stage, shaped by the exchanges between performers and audience.
Rooted in a grassroots philosophy, the event challenged the traditional power dynamics between theatre institutions and audiences, positioning spectators as active participants, both in the performances, and in the archiving of the work. After the show, audience members recorded their written interpretations of each story, which the designer compiled into a publication produced in collaboration with Onomatopee, extending authorship to those who experienced the night firsthand.