From the House of Kaleidoscopes

Hannah Collisson talks about The House of Kaleidoscopes

Jude Montague interviews Hannah Collisson about her latest performace at Archer Lodge.

JM: Tell us about your new show, The House of Kaleidoscopes? What’s it about? 

HC: The House of Kaleidoscopes is an experiential theatre performance in which I explore moments, artefacts and fragments of my personal narrative. Nothing is static and everything can shatter and shift in an instant when past and present collide. It is about the joy and beauty in this constant change and emerging new perspectives and realities.

JM: Why did you choose to do this particular show, is it part of your personal journey as an artist?

HC: The spark that brought The House of Kaleidoscopes into being was my trip to Ghana in February this year. Part of my heritage is Ghanaian, and this was my first time visiting the country. I went with an open mind, and in part the show explores what I was looking for and how my perspective shifted in the process of looking.

I am an interdisciplinary artist and threads that run throughout my work are connection to place, nature, and the power of stories, so in that sense The House of Kaleidoscopes is part of my personal journey as an artist.

JM: How does The House of Kaleidoscopes relate to work you’ve put on before? Is it a development or more like a departure?

HC: In 2022 fellow ExploreTheArch artist and performer Yasmin Aishah and I created Earthed, a promenade experiential theatre performance in which we recreated our childhood garden hideouts as a way of exploring our mixed heritage, memories real and imagined, and connection to place.

The House of Kaleidoscopes is a very different show but is connected in that I am using this multidisciplinary, multi-sensory framework of experiential theatre to explore personal themes, which are also universally relatable.

The House of Kaleidoscopes is being presented at Archer Lodge. How does the performance interact with the space? How will it feel and look? What’s different about Archer Lodge to working in a purpose-built theatre?

Archer Lodge is the home of ExploreTheArch theatre company, and is the UK’s only theatre venue dedicated to the exploration of domestic life. I can’t give too much away about the show in advance, but the space, the audience, and I as performer are in dialogue. It will have an intimate feel as audience numbers are limited for each performance.

As Archer lodge is a domestic status venue, it’s magic being able to transform familiar spaces into not-so-familiar, using mostly recycled and repurposed materials, and so great to work with theatre-maker Gail Borrow (creative director of ExploreTheArch) and engineer @PoorlyBeetle to create the show.

JM: What would you imagine people might experience when they come to see The House of Kaleidoscopes?

HC: Every performance will be slightly different as every audience is different and that is the beauty of this type of show. It is multi-sensory, and people are free to tune into whatever resonates for them. They will get a glimpse into my personal narrative and experience the joy of shapes and colour in perpetual motion!

The House of Kaleidoscopes runs daily 8-22 August, 8pm. The venue is Archer Lodge, Charles Road (opposite Markwick Gardens), St Leonards, TN38 0QX. Advance booking via Eventbrite is essential, tickets are £15+ booking fee, under 19s free.

Archer Lodge, the dedicated venue of ExploreTheArch theatre company, is open to all for one month only 1–31 August, 8am–8pm. Ingenious seating awaits in rooms and gardens bursting with life. Free entry, and simple food and drink using natural ingredients from the garden is available, plus a changing programme of daily activities. Follow this link for details.

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