The Psychedelic Society of Bristol is delighted to present an evening where fools and jesters tell truth to power. How can we access altered states through performance and drama? How is silliness and improvisation related to shamanism and ritual space? Can we actually be the change we want to see in the world?

Joining us to offer their performances, practice, ponderances and pratfalls will be:

DESPERATE MEN

Desperate Men have been inviting people to play for over 37 years, creating, performing and producing ground-breaking outdoor theatre in the UK and internationally. As creative producers, we work on large-scale outdoor art projects and collaborate with other partners and arts organisations.We also create bespoke performances, street animations and education projects on commission and still find time for our own creative work. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, from working with local authorities to engage communities to setting up partnerships with other artists.

HOLLY STOPPIT

Holly Stoppit is a facilitator, performance skills teacher, theatre director and dramatherapist, specialising in live, interactive, improvised and devised performance. Holly creates and delivers unique performance skills / self-development training courses under the brand of Holly Stoppit Workshops and as a guest university lecturer. Holly is artistic director of Beyond The Ridiculous and freelance facilitator / director / creative consultant offering bespoke services for professional theatre companies, community organisations, universities, businesses and individual artists. At the heart of all of Holly’s work is a desire to promote creative discovery and connection through play.

SARA ZALTASH

Sara Zaltash (b.1985) is a British-Iranian artist and Schumacher Institute Fellow working with live action, song, sound, community, ritual, conceptual enquiry, magic and the divine in order to evolve reality.

"Zaltash is electrifying... See her if you can." – The Guardian.
"a radical act of worship" – New York Times
"Those hushed minutes of impassioned chanting reminded us of our shared faiths, and the possibility of spiritual harmony." – Haaretz

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This will be followed by a panel discussion with all the participants, dipping into the mind-expanding qualities of performance, and roving widely across the approaches and insights that have come out of their practices

Advance tickets available from Headfirst Bristol