A pregnant woman imagines her baby, wishing for a healthy baby who will love her in return. But when she sleeps, she dreams that her baby is a half-wild ‘pig-girl’. As her pregnancy progresses, she reflects on her own relationship with her mother, and comes to understand some of the pressures her mother was under. The woman’s labour begins early, and she loses the baby. She grieves for her lost child and her friends and family search for things to say to her. She becomes angry, but comes to see that she can’t hold onto what she hoped for her baby. She sets her dream ‘pig girl’ free.
Running with pigs … is a music theatre piece and art installation for one singer/actor and 2-3 musicians. The text was been written by Tracy Bourne, music by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphries, visuals by Sophie Xeros-Constantinides, and direction/dramaturgy by Anne Thompson.
Running with pigs … was performed at the Post Office Box Theatre, Ballarat in 2006, and was funded by the University of Ballarat, and Regional Arts Victoria.
