Sat in a garden on a sunny afternoon Incognito theatre are writing their latest play ‘The Burning’ that looks at the way powerful women have been labelled throughout history – director Roberta Zuric said, “We’re trying to make it a nice fiery, statement about women and how their place in society. “
The inspiration for the piece came from a book Roberta read by Sylvia Federici about European witch hunts, touching on links between the oppression of women and through the lens of the lens of the witch hunts explaining, “throughout history when we think of witch we think of women and it’s very rare that you think of a man.” Roberta continued to say that she’d never thought about witches beyond the classic portrayal in the media, which made her really keen to explore these new ideas, “it’s a conversation I really wanted to start with an audience.”
The production has an entirely female cast and creative team, and Roberta wants to use this sense of female empowerment to get the audience to think about the themes of the piece, and “to examine how we got to where we got to” further explaining, “This shows just a tiny thread in precisely articulating that single word ‘witch’ – if we take that single word, how has it grown throughout history and how is it still shaping the way we view each other.”
Incognito are well known for their skillful use of movement in their pieces, and Roberta says that being able to explore that is one of the most exciting things about directing this show, “I just think the world we’ve set up is perfect to be told through physical theatre telling and on top of that.” ‘The Burning’ is also the first show in which Incognito are incorporating live music, and Roberta hopes that the music combined with the movement will help to set up an “epic” atmosphere.
Roberta is really excited about taking ‘The Burning’ to The Fringe, and being able to experience the community of Edinburgh, saying, “It’s incredible! The audiences are incredible and it’s just really exciting!”
The Burning is on at the Pleasance Courtyard 31st July – 26th August.
Picture Credit: Mark Senior
