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Is it just me?

House of Figs presents:

Is it just me? The Awkward Guide to Friendship

• Does the cat get your tongue when you’re meeting new people?
• Are your words growing steadily weirder and wilder?
• Have you ever been likened to a lemon?
• Then climb aboard…

House of Figs bring you their work-in-progress show celebrating all the shapes of friendship, from perfectly platonic meet cutes to courageous conversations… and beyond.

Join poet Beth Calverley and musician Beth Roberts on a voyage through deep friendship feelings, safely afloat in an otherworldly choir of spoken and sung voices.

Is it just me? The Awkward Guide to Friendship intersperses the duo’s own weird and wonderful experiences with recordings of other people talking about talking to people.

Along the way, they invite their new friends to help inspire a live-improvised voicescape and join in with collective singing – though silence is equally celebrated!

More about House of Figs:

House of Figs is a collaboration between Beth Calverley (The Poetry Machine) and Beth Roberts (Hands of the Heron / Hedera / Tryani Collective).

The duo has been supported by Arts Council England to develop their creative practice and they are now ready to share their work-in-progress. Their mission is that no-one will ever again think: “everyone finds friendship and talking to people easier than I do.”

Beth and Bethany hold parallel roles as Poet & Musician in Residence at University
Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust. From hospitals to festivals, they set out to create a held space wherever they perform, illuminating the value of care for ourselves and others.

House of Figs have headlined events at Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival and Komedia Bath, and performed at Shambala, HowTheLightGetsIn, Green Man, WOMAD, Good Grief and Bristol Harbour Festival. They have been commissioned to create audio pieces for beloved public spaces such as Bristol Temple Meads and NHS hospitals.

“Best sound experience of the festival” – HowTheLightGetsIn audience member
“The definition of wholesome fun” – Shambala audience member
“Hypnotic… radiates tenderness and awe” – Sabotage Reviews

Follow them @ourhouseoffigs