The Realisation Festival is something quite special. 150 people, all gathered together to reflect on where we are in the world, personally, collectively, politically and so on and so forth. And it is a deep and reflective time and gosh are we going to end up being all earnest all weekend, wringing our hands and self-flagellating?
Fear not! We are here, in the words of Dame Judi Dench, to take the work seriously but not ourselves. And that’s where The Realisation Players come in. A collection of musicians, comedians and improvisers, The Realisation Players will be performing improvised ditties, singing spontaneous songs and leading workshops in how to get out of your own head and into someone else’s.
We will be available all weekend to invite you to be playful, to enjoy each other’s company, to find different ways to look at whatever it is we are looking at and to remind ourselves we are just humans looking and reflecting on better ways to be. We will be the tickle of the feather of joy. For joy is the lubricant that keeps us through the dark times. And the hard times. And the questioning times. And the slightly dull times. What time are we in now? I’d say a bit of a ‘Time Smorgasbord’ but I don’t want to telegraph my highfalutin ways or love of cured meats.
Laughter has always been a necessary sprinkle, but comedy is more than just a punchline to break the tension. It acts as a framework to see how else we might look at ourselves, our worlds, our endearing idiosyncrasies. Whilst it may sometimes feel hard to find the funny, it is the funny that can find the crack where the light gets in. Don’t tell Leonard.
See you in Dorset in June. I’ll be the one in the massive shoes holding a custard pie (non-dairy).
Photo of Improvisation Workshop with Susan Harrison at Realisation 2023
(c) Sophie Lindsay / Realisation Festival