Written and performed by Noella Murphy

Flower Bed is an accessible chronicle of chronic illness. Using puppets, humour, and visual art, it creatively explores what life is like when your full-time job is Living With Pain. Noella Murphy is a clown, a visual artist, a theatre maker, and a medical mystery. From a misogynistic healthcare system that ignores women’s pain to the struggles of being confined to your bed for months on end, Noella reflects on the absurdity, grief, and transformation that comes with chronic illness, creating a place to share her story and allow others to see their experiences reflected onstage. With two complementary components (an onstage performance and an interactive gallery show), this multidisciplinary piece is a visual spectacle, a place for conversation, and a pathway towards empathy for those who have dealt with any form of illness in their lives.

Discounted tickets are sold as a Double Bill with Archive of Loneliness

Flower Bed Team

Noella Murphy – Creator/Performer
Lou Campbell – Director/Dramaturg
Laura Stinson – Puppet Designer/Puppeteer
Ginevra Syperek – Costume Co-designer
Ashley MacDonald and Susie Murphy – Costume Co-designers
Colleen Arcturus MacIsaac – Producer

Thank you to Arts Nova Scotia for their support of this project.

 ASL interpretation will be provided for the May 10th performance.

        Childcare will be provided for this event. Please use this REGISTRATION FORM.

Bios

Noella Murphy – Creator/Performer
Noella Murphy (she/they) is a mad and disabled actor, costume designer, visual artist, and all-around clown. She holds a BFA from NSCAD University, and is an alum of Kinsale’s Wooden O Drama Program (Ireland). Despite an active visual arts practice of her own, Noella is deeply interested in sharing art as a therapeutic tool, and much of Noella’s professional career has been dedicated to working with folks with varying backgrounds, disabilities, young, and old. Noella uses these various expertises, as well as her background in clowning and visual art, to explore deeper, more challenging subject matter, while simultaneously infusing these discoveries with light, care, and play. Visually, Noella concentrates has been fascinated by the flora that surrounds her. Exploring realism with permission to choose unnatural size, colours, or different materials, Noella never tires of botanical art and using her work to show the viewer a different perspective. Her pieces range from lino cuts, etchings, to watercolour on wood canvases with pen on top and more recently paint marker. Drawn to line and stippling, the style ranges from realism to a more graphic approach.
@noella_murphy

Lou Campbell – Director/Dramaturg
Lou Campbell (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, NS. Their practice traverses many mediums including performance, clown, stand-up, drag, poetry and sound. They create work that unpacks the inner workings of their own experiences, usually manifesting in the open sharing of mortifying past mistakes. Their award winning solo show PRUDE premiered at EFT at the Stages festival. It has since toured across the country to festivals such as rEVolver, High Performance Rodeo, Outfest, and Next Stage Festival. Lou also co-runs a cross-province collective based in Toronto and Halifax called Probably Theatre. This collective creates performance work devised from poetry, and runs events and exhibitions that facilitate the creation of new work by other artists.⁠ Lou is thrilled to be working on Flower Bed.

Laura Stinson – Puppet Designer/Puppeteer
Laura Stinson (she/they) – Laura crafts images from both found and traditional materials. These creations become narratives, characters and atmospheres in a variety of theatrical spectacles. She began her career in puppetry with Bread and Puppet Theater in 2016. After four years working as a touring member and subsequent resident puppeteer with the company, Laura moved back to Mi’kma’ki and co-founded North Barn Theatre with Ian McFarlane in 2020. Alongside making work with North Barn she continues to collaborate with other artists as a performer, designer and builder. She also shares her specialized knowledge by leading community workshops in both puppet construction and performance across the Atlantic region. She currently lives and works in Mi’kma’ki.

Fallow

Come see Noella Murphy’s Fallow currently on exhibit in the lobby of the Bus Stop Theatre in conjunction with Flower Bed.