Parliament Square
In Parliament Square, Kat navigates a climate of political protest, and we see how it affects her life and those around her. The play also takes us through the extreme change the climate has had on Kat's life, as she attempts to end her own life in demonstration.
The play was set in the round, with four surrounding banks of seating. Each seating bank also had its own surround speaker delivery system, as well as a central cluster. The sound design was woven tightly with how Kat experienced the world, highlighting the pressures of the political climate and the experience of self-immolation and hospitalization.
Listen as we hear a dramatized example of Kat's perspective when she is in the hospital, recovering from attempted self-immolation. We distinctly hear the world come close and then fade away as she struggles to open her eyes.
The third chapter of Parliament Square is made up of 78 small sub-scenes, ranging in length from one single word to a short conversation. Each sub-scene was cut short abruptly, symbolizing the ragged pacing through 15 years of Kat's life. The lights quickly cut out, and we hear this sharp interruption between each segment.
In the final act of the play, we realize that Kat's earlier attempted immolation had an onlooker, Catherine. Fifteen years later, Catherine goes on to attempt, and succeed, at the same suicidal demonstration. This sound sequence paints the graphic story of her death.
Trigger warning: Listen at your discretion, as this is a graphic and dramatized depiction of self-immolation.