PUSH

PUSH is a Multimedia performance devised and directed in collaboration with writers Diane Samuels and Sarah Woods and performer Cathrin Long. PUSH was developed during a four year research period with input from pain specialists Dr Charles Pither, Dr Anita Holdcroft and Dr Mick Serpell. Patrick Wall, whose research shattered traditional understanding of pain, died shortly after recording an interview which forms part of the work.

Using documentary footage in combination with metaphorical imagery of mountain climbing, PUSH charts the rational and irrational responses of people caught in a state of unexplained physical suffering. In the combination of manipulated imagery with live performance and documentary audio and video footage a world is created where everyday experiences are at once familiar and utterly strange. In this context Cathrin Long's candid and incisive reflections along with the recordings of leading scientist Patrick Wall and of Dr Charles Pither will perhaps change our understanding of what it means to live with long-term pain.

With a duration of around 75 minutes, PUSH was performed at the People Show Theatre in June 2003 by Cathrin Long and Matthew Bowyer, with a specially composed sound track by John Eacott. Produced by Artsadmin.

Funded by The Gulbenkian Foundation and a Wellcome Trust Science for Stage and Screen Award