CABBAGE - some thoughts on a new show
Cabbage is three interconnecting stories of women in their kitchens. All stories are set on or near borders, all stories deal with personal/ private territory. The women may or may not be pregnant.
1. First story is a woman in N. Ireland making Colcannon. She's pregnant. Her husband's mother is coming to stay despite the whole 'cat situation'. The mother-in law is a nervous flyer so he has gone to pick her up. She was meant to have been on that Malaysian flight that got shot down over Ukraine in 2014 but she wasn't. She's talking to the head of a cabbage.
2. Second story set on the outskirts of Seoul. Woman is reading Rapunzel to her bump. She's isolated and lives in a tower block. She takes selfies. She is terrified of becoming an 'Ajuma'. She doesn't love her husband who is away a lot on business. She meets an American man and cooks him Budae-jjigae They develop a strange borderless relationship that may or may not be sexual but he is controlling, perhaps. He cuts off her hair. She is 'ajuma'.
3. third story is a woman on a bordertown of Crimea and Ukraine. Not too far from where the plane crashed. She is an air bnb host preparing Golubtsi for her guests for breakfast. She's going through a divorce. Painful and uncertain. She is the most optimistic of the three. Perhaps able to hints of their complicated relationship. (reference here Ciaran Brady's essay on Ireland/ UK "In the shadow of the fond abuser")
Global, political, landscape
Intimate/personal sexual politics
Womens' ability to harness change
Soft power
women's voices
Female Spaces
Power shifts