As part of VOILA! Festival, critically acclaimed and award-winning writer and performer Elisabeth Gunawan (Unforgettable Girl, The Stage Debut Award winner for Best Performer 2022) presents Stampin’ in the Graveyard at The Cockpit. A fascinating headphone theatre piece which will immerse audiences in an apocalyptic future, the piece explores what Artificial Intelligence can reveal about our collective memories, imagination and relationships. Using technology, live music, and movement, this play brings the audience into the lived experience of migration and rootlessness, to discover a resilient hope through a unique perspective of AI.
Stampin’ the Graveyard follows ROSE, the last AI chatbot left on a wasteland Earth, as she sifts through a black box of archival ‘memories’ belonging to the woman who created her. In search of an identity, we journey through a reflective path that investigates the inheritance of lived experiences of migration and exile, reckoning with the irrecoverable destruction of our places of belonging. Through AI and the thread of loss and loneliness, the piece confronts what the non-human imagination can reveal about humans and our relationships, and uncovers the resilience and hopefulness of human nature.
Writer and co-director Elisabeth Gunawan comments, Artificial Intelligence are language models and story machines, and ultimately the piece is about how the stories we tell ourselves shape who we are. Across three different generations, my family and I have been settlers, refugees, migrants and citizens. The process of creating this story has allowed me to reflect on my past journey, and to look to the future. At Saksi Bisou, our work strives to provide a space of belonging for those who don’t feel they have one – hopefully so others can feel seen in lived experiences that may seem isolated.
Devised through rigorous research surrounding AI and developed by a migrant team of likeminded and curious creatives, Stampin’ in the Graveyard experiments with new interactive technologies to create a truly visceral theatrical experience. Artistic collective Saksi Bisou aims to decolonise the imagination and empower people, using performance as a space for forum, discussion, and exploration.
Co-director Matej Matejka also comments, Our innovative use of modern technology isn’t just for spectacle; it deepens the audience’s emotional connection, triggering senses and sparking imagination in a way that resonates deeply with contemporary society. As ROSE tries to understand her identity and purpose through a recollection of ‘her’ source memories, we learn about the imperfect love between her MOTHER and FATHER. By reconstructing the lives of two ordinary people, we offer a post-apocalyptic reflection on humanity, capturing its vulnerability and the fragile beauty of existence.
Exploring this intricate graveyard of humanity will reveal the deep-rooted essence of what truly makes us human and belonging to a home after feeling adrift.
Stampin’ in the Graveyard has been developed with support from Arts Council England, ArtsAdmin’s Lab Residency, Shoreditch Town Hall and Battersea Arts Centre.
