Purpose

RISE was written in response to a call for a ‘meaningful and relevant’ script that might provoke an experience of genuine empowerment for their students, from the Director of the IB Theatre programme at Branksome Hall Asia, Jeju.*

BHA is an all girls school providing an international education on Jeju island whose motto is, ‘Empowering Women’. We were motivated to create a story that might support these young East Asian women to feel connected to and empowered by their gender and culture.

On a political level the play is our contribution to one of today’s key global conversations, that of women’s equality and emancipation. The voices and messages of the recent women’s marches and the stories from the #metoo movement echoed in the writers mind as she wrote. It is our hope that this story is a powerful addition to that voice. A voice and a movement that is steadily gaining strength, power and purpose for a new generation of young feminists across nations and cultures.

And on a personal level, fueled by our own desires and beliefs, the play is an expression of our desire for global healing. It is a vision of what could happen if we connected to a desire to serve the group and the Earth herself, rather than just our individual selves, or close family units. Of what might be possible in our future if we were willing to connect to, and receive support from, our ancestors, from the Spirits of the Earth, and from our unseen help in the non-visible realms.

*  This call was an unofficial request from Spouse to Spouse, the project was not officially commissioned by Branksome Hall Asia and the writing team has not been financially compensated for any part of the show’s creation by the school, or its governing or financing body.