Placeholder

(2021)

St Domingue, 1790. One year and one day before an uprising of rebel slaves will ignite what is now known as the Haitian Revolution. In La Comédie de Port-Au-Prince, Minette waits, holding a seat, but the auditorium fumes conjure up ghosts from her past.

Set in motion by academic research carried out by members of the Colonial-Era Caribbean Theatre and Opera Network, a cross-institutional endeavour chaired at St Andrews, Placeholder turns silence into speculation into reclamation and attestation. This engaging new piece takes as its starting point the idea that the gaps in the archives, the lacunae in texts, and the holes in the narrative are themselves acts of violence and suppression.

PERFORMANCES:

Reading of first draft at the 2021 Edinburgh Multicultural Festival, 2nd Oct 2021.

Performed as part of the 2021 Being Human Festival at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 17th Nov 2021, 7pm. SOLD OUT.

Byre Theatre, St Andrews, 2022.
9th Feb 2022. Tickets for in-person show here, livestream here.


TEAM:

Written and performed by: Catherine Bisset
Dramaturgy: Jaïrus Obayomi
Produced and directed by Flavia D’Avila

Photos by Chris Scott

Kindly supported by a research grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Collaboration, Research and Development Fund from City of Edinburgh Council.

Special thanks to Scottish Storytelling Centre, Jen McGregor, Edinburgh Acting School, Ryan Matthewson, Donald Bisset.