Our friend Julius Ferraro has been conducting interviews with some of our SoLow artists. We'll be featuring them here on the blog leading up to and through the Festival. Thank you Julius! And don't forget, you can view the entire lineup of artists in the full SoLow listings!
HARD TO HATE YOUR BODY IF YOU LOVE
YOURSELF
The lovely Eileen Tull and scenic Cincinnati
And so it
was that, somehow, a lone Cincinnati artist heard the distant call of the SoLow
Fest—and answered. Like most SoLow artists, Eileen Tull is an experienced writer, performer, administrator and director. Unlike the
rest of them, she’s doing her show in Ohio. Eileen talks to the SoLow Fest
about self-love, losing weight, and being a satellite performer (by which we
don’t mean dancing on the ISS).
SoLow Fest: How did you hear about
us?
Eileen Tull:
God bless the internet.
SF: How is being involved in SoLow
different from your usual work?
ET:
Self-producing has its pitfalls and pleasures and can be fairly isolating,
especially as a solo performer. Being associated with the SoLow Fest, even from
afar, gives me a sense of community with my fellow solo artists.
SF: You’re from Cincy, we’re from
Philly—tell us about your history as an artist!
ET:
I've been a bit of a wandering artist. I grew up in Cincinnati, then I moved to
Chicago, where I studied theatre, focusing on directing, with very little
concentration in performance. I then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where
I continued working in those artistic capacities, but I also started performing
in different readings, workshops, and site specific experimental pieces. I
developed my first solo play for the 2012 San Francisco Fringe Festival, and
fell in love with the medium. I recently returned to Cincinnati where I've
played around with solo theatre, improv, stand-up comedy, spoken word
performance, and performance art.
SF: Was there a specific series of
events, which inspired you to create this show?
ET: My show
deals with body image issues and wide the spectrum of fat shaming to fat
activism. It was inspired by my own experiences with losing a significant
amount of weight over the last nine months after nearly a lifetime of
struggling with self-acceptance and happiness in terms of my body. My journey
(still in progress) has involved a lot of hard work and a lot of newfound
self-love. I started a weight loss/health blog about my experiences, but I
wanted to take it a step further, so I started developing the show. My hopes
are to be able to tour this piece to different communities and groups and
contribute to the ongoing dialogue about weight obsession and body hate in
America, especially about and among women.
SF: What are you doing to increase
awareness of your show in Cincinnati?
ET: I'm all
about word-of-mouth advertising, especially through social media. I'm amping up
the signal regarding the festival through different social media sites to my
connections all over the country. I think it's so exciting to be a satellite
performer in the festival, and especially to be connected to other fabulous
artists and creators. I would love to continue to develop a national network of
solo performers and artists.
SF: What challenges, fears,
triumphs, horrors, excitements etc. have you experienced in putting together
this solo show?
ET: Because
this is such personal and sometimes sensitive subject matter, I feel a lot more
vulnerable as a creator than with other pieces. It involves putting my own
feelings and experiences on the line and out on stage. I'm facing some of my
own deep-seated fears right out there onstage in front of an audience, in terms
of dealing with fat shame and body image issues. It's also been very exciting
to bring these topics to light and to inspire people to love themselves and
become enveloped in body positivity. Hearing about people's anticipation of the
piece and inevitable discussion has been amazing and incredibly supportive.
Eileen performs I’m Feeling Good About My Body, Is That Okay? on June 27th at 8pm at Moeller High School
in Cincinnati. For reservations click here http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6464201601.
Julius Ferraro is a Philly freelancer. He writes regularly for Art Attack and his blog, Notes on Words.