Animikii Workshop

Chrissy, Daryll, Janet, and Kelly collaborated on this blog post, writing it together to share what happened at the Animikii Theatre Workshop and The Kasper Hauser Experiment show.  

We were unsure about what to expect in the workshop and felt a little nervous. We were pleased that it was just our group in the workshop as it gave us the chance to talk about our work as well as hear about their work and the show.  

Adam Davies and Joanne Haines were very welcoming and enthusiastic. They spoke to everyone, and Adam got a sense of who we were within the space of five minutes. He was very interested in the work that we do.  

We started with a meditation exercise to concentrate on breathing, using visualisation and mindfulness. The workshop was focused on sensory exploration, mainly touch. 

We then explored the musical instruments that are used within the play, Kelly clicked with the instruments as music is a huge part of her life, and Chrissy enjoyed using instruments we’d never seen before. We also used books to make different sounds – setting a metronome to collectively create some ‘found’ music.  

We were told about Kasper’s life. He was captive and kept in isolation for 13 years. He had no interaction with anyone, not even his captor. We were shown the size of where he slept, ate, and lived. A tiny box, so small that we realised that Daryll wouldn’t be able to lie down flat or stand up within it. We were amazed about the start to life that Kasper had– Daryll immersed himself in Kasper’s life in the box and really connected with it.  

‘When I imagine and practice being in that situation, it was so uncomfortable lying on the ground, in a small space with just hay’ 

There was no pressure to do anything, it was so relaxed and welcoming, we all took part, and all found something to take away from the workshop.  

Joanne led an art activity inspired by Kasper’s own drawing. We all wanted to take our work home, but they asked if they could display our creations in the show.  

We all thought that the show was good although very dark and deep with lots of wow emotional moments and upsetting scenes, especially the end. Daryll found parts of the show funny too. Kelly felt that doing the workshop gave us an insight into what we were going to hear but still didn’t make it entirely clear which left us wondering and with questions. 

Thank you Animikii Theatre and Mind the Gap!