The Party [2025]

Confetti falling in a dark room with a projected image on the ceiling. Text overlay advertising a dance studio event on June 4th at 7:30 pm at Quad South.

It’s 1985. The class of 1955 reunite for the 3rd time - in the pressures of love, loss and regret, they relive the confusion and grief that led to them losing two of their classmates, 30 years before.

Production Blurb:

Location/Company: York St John University, Dance Studio

Roles in Production: Co-director / Actor / Stage Design

Module Leader: David Richmond

BSL Support: Dave Wycherley

Poster Credit: Imogen Lisle-Clark (Imogen_lisle-clarke)

Photography credit: Amelia Annear

Cast & Co:

Group of people on stage at a party or celebration, with string lights and decorations overhead, some holding drinks, celebrating together.

Thank you to all who were involved in this module, without all of your ideas and passion this would not have been the same piece!

REHEARSAL - Theory & Perfomance Snapshots

How do you bear testimony to an event you did not witness? - This production is borne out of the experiences, explorations and independent research of 20 Drama Degree students studying at York St John, who chose the Artist as Witness module.

Person lying on a decorated stage with blankets, flowers, empty bottles, and string lights.

Picture above: Francesca’s role passed out or dead on the stage

We grappled with who we are; when we love, when we hate, how we come to terms with the history before us - and how to present these complex ideas in an incredibly relational way, to an audience without relying on direct dialogue.

Picture below: Francesca’s role is controlled by another cast member’s narrative played by: Tessa Tuominen

Two women sitting on a stage during a performance, with balloons and props around them, and bottles on the floor.

In the rehearsal room, we each attempted to unpack:

  • When do collective and individual memories become reliable or unreliable - does it make the memory any less “real”?

  • how lived and non-lived experiences weave into our testimonies (stories we tell about ourselves)

  • unpack the ethics of how we represent stories using research and extracts from The Holocaust, Romeo and Juliet, and the Italian Partisan movement during WW2.

Group of girls sitting and watching an event, with some sitting on a bench and others on the floor, in a dark setting with colorful lighting.

Picture above: the Collective of Partygoers are witnessing the stage’s events

Picture below: Francesca is signing to Sam, who does not know British Sign Language

Two young people dancing in front of an audience in a studio with black curtains and stage lighting.

Picture below: Actors Darcy and Imogen run into an embrace

Two women dancing on stage with a group of children and adults sitting and watching in the background, illuminated by purple stage lights.

Picture below: Francesca’s role explaining Bella Ciao in BSL

Francesca Viney - in The Party 2025 - Photo taken by @ameliaannear
Francesca Viney - in The Party 2025 - Photo taken by @ameliaannear
Francesca Viney - in The Party 2025 - Photo taken by @ameliaannear

Picture below & Left: Headshots of Francesca’s role in different lighting as the emotion changes

Want to see more? Check out my past projects, or get in touch!