Interview Call-Out: Can I Talk To You?

Research For New Dance-Theatre Performance

My name is Ruby Donohoe and I am a Queensland performing artist. I’m making a new contemporary dance-theatre work based on my experience of living with epilepsy and as part of my research would like to connect with folk who share similar experiences. Our interview would be for private research purposes only and not made available to the public. If you’re interested please fill out the form below.

(Scroll down from more information about my story)

MY STORY

I had my first seizure when I was 14 and since then have a few tonic clonic seizures most years and clonic seizures sprinkled throughout my day-to-day. I still don't have a lot of clarity around my condition and am still searching for the right medication.

Epilepsy has taught me a lot. Sometimes I feel like the more I get to know my body, the more mysterious it is to me. My body is both my closest companion and completely unknowable. For a while - and if I'm honest sometimes still- I feel betrayed by my body for being so sensitive but my sensitivity has also become the thing I love most about myself.

I'm creating this new performance work because I'm curious about what a phrase like an "out-of-body experience" means to people living with epilepsy. I'm curious about both the connection and disconnection we experience with our bodies. I'm curious about the way we understand memory. I'm curious about how our experiences inform the way we see the world. I'm curious about our wisdom and our vulnerabilities as humans.


This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

Interview Call-Out: LUNG WATER

Photo by Morgan Roberts

This research development of this play is supported by Creative Spaces and The Sunshine Coast Council.

Special thanks to Playlab Theatre, Doppelgangster (UK/AUS), and Backbone Arts for their support of this project.

My name is Ruby Donohoe and I am a Queensland performing artist. I’m making a new contemporary dance-theatre work called LUNG WATER as an artist-in-residence on Chambers Island (Gubbi Gubbi Country). If you’re an ocean swimmer, a sailer, or a kayaker I would love to chat to you as part of my research for the play!

About the work…
A woman who devotes her life to swimming around the world wakes up in a tiny hotel in Iceland with a melting glacier and discovers her lungs are filling up with the sea.

LUNG WATER will be performed on Chambers Island, Maroochydore in August/September 2021.