Thirty Years in a Basket

Playing Time: 75 minutes | Playing Space: 4×3 meters, 12×10.5 feet | Genre: Musical Story Telling

Have you ever wanted to totally leave it all?
Have you ever wanted to just unhand the world and flee the fear of irrelevance?
Have you ever wanted to say what you feel instead of what you hope?

TRY A BASKET!

You must only be very flexible, not afraid of heights and willing to give it all away.

Abandoned with her teenage son on a lonely train platform in communist Eastern Europe, Kathleen makes a daunting leap of faith from her ivory tower of academia and into a basket. This tenure-seeking university instructor tells her true odyssey from the rain forests of Panama, to dancing the Mazurka in a Polish Gospoda. She comes to understand that tragedy is inevitable in the storm of this world, but the comic is unexpected, astounding and gratuitously free, opening a chamber of the heart just waiting to be filled with immortality. Through her physical skills in song, dance and character the stage becomes a ‘tabla rasa’ in her hands and the viewer’s will never be the same.

Andrew Burnet, The Scotsman 2006

Kathleen Thompson has poured her heart and soul into this one-woman show, and we’re all the richer for having spent time in her presence.

Three Weeks, 2006

This performance sees some tremendous character-acting from Kathleen Ann Thompson who embodies the various people who populate her life, making it exceptionally moving and truly convincing…
…and the dramatic excellence of this performer.

Fringe Reviews, 2006

The magic started when the universal language of music and dance broke the barriers, real and perceived, her true soul came through in direct communion with local people with the same enthusiasm and passions. It made me smile, not just on my face but inwardly. And there’s a nice surprise for the audience at the end.