Written by Malena Arcucci

I am stuck in the movement.

 

Chorus

Six months here, six months there:

 

A citizen of the world, my dad says.

 

Chorus

A citizen of nowhere, I reply.  

 

We’ll see, I am not sure.

I don’t know yet, I’ll figure it out at some point.

We’ll see, I am not sure.

 

Chorus

I don’t know yet, I will figure it out. I will figure it out. I will figure it out.

 

But I finally got a room in that Victorian house.

 

Big windows.

Natural light.

Slow awakenings, half way there for half an hour,

until the alarm goes off.

 

Chorus

Shhh.

 

I reach behind me. Ey, Are you there?, I whisper.

 

Heel on shin, hand on hip, arm heavy over my belly.

I get turned and trapped, unable to move.

 

Chorus

Perfect.  

 

Do you want a coffee?

 

Chorus

Shhh.

 

A little bit closer, a little bit tighter.

(Pause)

A citizen of this bed.

 

Chorus

Shhh.

 

You move. That’s what you do.   

 

This scene was written as part of a series of devising workshops led by Mariana Aristizabal Pardo and me, Malena Arcucci, between May and August 2017 in London, UK.

 

As directors, and in view of recent political events, we were brought together by the feeling of our “otherness” becoming increasingly evident. A gap between us and our environment that is clear in our accent, in our behaviour and physicality, but also in our approach to the creative process in terms of cooperation, collaboration and hierarchy.

 

Starting from a shared sense of cultural, linguistic and physical in-betweenness, this ensemble piece explores the search for stability in a foreign country. I  Occur Here (Aqui Sucedo) is a devised physical theatre piece that gathers from the experiences of London-based international artists to redefine the notion of home and explore our seemingly unending capacity for adaptation.