Last Gasp: A Recalibration

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19 October 2021 · Follow on Stagedoor

“Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver, better known as feminist US company Split Britches, are back in town sharing their accumulated wisdom in typically wry and offbeat fashion. In this latest work, they're talking about loss and how you pick yourself up and recalibrate after momentous loss and all that has happened during the last two years. Upfront about the ageing process and the way our bodies break down, and urgent about the planet and civil discourse, the duo will make you think, make you laugh and maybe raise your hackles too.”

Overview

Equipped with some know-how and a touch of irony, Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver use spoken word and movement to respond to a world turned upside down.

Returning to the stage after almost two years, two icons of lesbian-feminist theatre gather us in the same room, but not as the same people. Speaking directly, they question the demise of ageing bodies, civil conversation, and a sustainable planet. Shaw’s poetic musings are interspersed with Weaver’s micro dance essays in which she wryly upends ‘how to’ mania.

Last Gasp: A Recalibration brings prickly conversations literally to the table in episodes entitled ‘The Trump in Me’, ‘How to Survive a Loss’ and ‘How to Set a Table in an Emergency’. With cultural references ranging from surrealist painter Dorothea Tanning to singer Johnnie Ray, the legendary performance duo ease a little tension while hitting upon strategies for moving on in the aftermath of a foundation shattering crisis.

Age Recommendation: 16+