HOW TO DO WHAT WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO

A tutorial of possible ways to disobey orders as told through live-drawn puppets, storytelling, collaborative sound poetry, and jelly.

The word ‘octopus’ has three acceptable plurals according to the rules of the English language: octopi, octopuses, and octopodes. We learn this as an opera-singing bus driver with large prosthetic buttocks confronts workplace discrimination with the help of a gaggle of octopi/octopuses/octopodes. This struggle leads to the discovery of a scroll of “Rules to be taken seriously” detailing forbidden actions that are never to be committed under any circumstances. Coincidentally, all of the tools and props necessary to break each of these rules are scattered throughout the gallery space. Lawless pandemonium soon ensues.

Performance created during The Fool Residency at AirSpace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, July 2022, with support from Arts Council England.

Photos: Glen Stoker.