The Secret Life of Mia is a promenade performance aiming to its audience on an intimate journey into the secret world of women starving for beauty.

Created by Liverpool-based performer Amandine Vincent, The Secret Life of Mia will be performed in Liverpool city centre and St Helens throughout October, with audiences of no more than six at a time meeting at a specific locations before being immersed in the one-woman show – sensible footwear advised, natch. The audience will be invited to put on a pair of headphones and follow a woman suffering from bulimia through the streets as she goes about her daily routine.

Vincent says: “Feeling increasingly concerned about the number of people around me affected by eating disorders and observing the abuse many put their body through in the name of society’s unachievable standards of ‘beauty’, I felt compelled to question it and give those who are bulimic a voice and a body to tell their suffering, their loneliness, their everyday secret life.”

Through the use of voice, sound, technology and physical theatre, The Secret Life of Mia aims to be “a unique and thought-provoking experience for the audience, inviting them to challenge their usual perception of the world and see it from a new perspective”.

Amandine Vincent is a performer and author originally from France. After training as an actress in Lyon, she attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has performed across the UK, including at the Globe Theatre, in Italy, France and China. She has trained with top physical theatre companies in the UK, including Liverpool’s own Tmesis, Frantic Assembly, and internationally (Song of the Goat, Animal Religion).

With this show, she is also launching her own company, La Banshee, dedicated to revealing and exploring hidden aspects of the world with a strong emphasis on the feminine. The Secret Life of Mia was developed as part of the first On the Verge festival produced by Hope Street Ltd. in Liverpool in 2013. The Liverpool shows culminate on World Mental Health Day (WMHD) on Monday, October 10.

The Secret Life of Mia runs from October 6 to 10 with several performances in Liverpool each day; and in St Helens from October 18 to 26. Tickets can be booked at www.thesecretlifeofmia.co.uk.

 

Photo credit: Pete Carr