Solo Work

The image shows a scene with a mannequin lying on a bed on a pebbled beach and covered with a white sheet, with flowers placed on it. In the foreground, there is a puppet wrapped in purple cloth with big black eyes, resembling a character from a performance. A person wearing a yellow-green safety vest is seen walking in the background near the water. The scene appears to be part of a theatrical or artistic presentation about refugee experiences in Europe.

You, Me and the Distance Between Us

A one woman theatre show

Devised, performed and toured internationally 2016-2019

Ellen spent 6 months volunteering in Europe’s refugee camps.

She gave out clothes and blankets, she made many cups of tea.

It gave her lots to think about. Like what everyone was fleeing from, why she had really come to help and whether borders were such a good idea after all.

She’s put it all on stage, because it needs to be talked about.

Expect puppets, slam poetry, song and role-play in an attempt to expose the humanity behind the headlines. 

Audiences left saying “I laughed, cried, felt embarrassed, angry and sad.”

From a traditional theatre education into front line humanitarian aid work, Ellen combines old skills with new experiences to bring alive the existential issues that surround mass movements of people, encouraging the audience to consider their own position within it. 

The stage resembles French and Greek makeshift camps, with a simple set made entirely of found objects. Ellen uses a combination of shadow and cloth puppets, slam poetry, live acapella singing and humorous role play to entice the audience into an honest dialogue, using her own experiences as a base to address popular misconceptions surrounding the media frenzy of Europe’s “Refugee Crisis”, 2015-2016.

You, Me and the Distance Between Us was devised during the Spring of 2016 and was performed over 50 times at theatres, schools, universities, festivals and community centres around England, Scotland, Germany, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

A poster for Refugee Week features an illustration of a woman holding a cup, with a purple and black sky background, and a cityscape including trees and electrical poles. Text promotes an event titled 'You, Me and the Distance Between Us,' performed by Ellen Muriel, with dates and locations in London and Brighton.
Doll wrapped in black cloth with pink flower, lying on a wooden plank with white lace cloth and a small pumpkin, on a light-colored surface.
A puppet dressed in purple fabric resembling a person, on a rocky beach with a wooden platform in the background. There are people walking near the water, and various reviews and quotes about theatre and art are overlaid on the image.
A girl with long hair and a black shirt performing a puppet show with a purple puppet, in front of a cardboard box and a white paper.
Young girl with blonde hair standing behind a cardboard box, holding a small plush penguin toy, with a dark background and a tent on the right.
A woman is standing barefoot on a small stage, holding a black object, in front of a seated audience in a dark room. There are cardboard boxes and a green umbrella behind her, with some miscellaneous items around.
Person standing on stage with a large, green and beige umbrella of new size, with a shadow of a group of people projected onto it, in a dark theater or studio setting.
Silhouette of a person standing on a stage with a tent-like structure overhead, decorated with black silhouettes of protesters holding a 'Open the Borders' sign, and people in the background.

What Goes Where?

A solo set of music and storytelling

Performed at Projekttheater Dresden, 2020

A woman sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by books, wearing colorful striped leggings, a purple tulle skirt, a brown fur coat, and a string of multicolored lights on her head and shoulders, holding a book titled 'Climate Justice: How?'. She has a confused or surprised expression.

I‘ve managed to assemble a piano, a microphone, a loop-station, and a drum machine and I‘m attempting to swiftly transform into a one man band for your pure entertainment.

For two nights only: you get to go to the theatre, sit in an audience and be whisked away on an existential musical journey, briefly escaping the woes of pandemic life.

For two nights only: I get to pretend to be a pop star, stand on stage and sing about my feelings, and I‘m terrified and excited all at the same time.

We‘ll be covering big themes; like chemotherapy, climate anxiety, corona blues and my quarter life crisis, but it's all delicately interspersed with plenty of juicy jazz chords and deep drum beats so as not to freak anyone out...myself included.

Come and see! It will be fun I promise.

I need you. Thanks.