Venue: Dublin City Council, Civic Offices, Christ Church Reception
13 Oct: 6pm & 8.30pm
14 Oct: 5pm & 7.30pm
My Name is Language is a performative work on the topic of names: how they can be given as well as withdrawn, inflicted, collected, hidden or adapted.
Can a name be translated into a different language or can it exist only in one? Why do women often lose their name in the course of their lives? What are reasons for people to reject or change their given name? Are stage names and usernames a form of branding?
Dutch visual artist Nicoline van Harskamp (Englishes, Project Arts Centre, 2018) collected naming stories from around the world, asking people, ‘What is your name, who gave it to you and what does it mean in your language?’ In Ireland, she learned about historic ‘name songs’, the politics of using Irish or English names, the results of a radically deregulated national naming system, and a much-loved play about the translation of names.
Audience and cast sit together in an institutional waiting room and listen to the stories, one after another, in a range of languages.
Performed in various languages including English with English subtitles.
Written and directed by Nicoline van Harskamp
Cast includes: Natalia Cooper, Dagmar Baar, John Doran, Kamila Dydyna, Shadaan Felfeli, Nandini Gupta, Tiny James, Idersukh Khurelsukh, Mo Murray, and Áine Ní Laoghaire
Video Design: Andreea Peterfi
Watch trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmnHyTHhG0k
