Orangutan and Me

As a little girl, Daisy was not allowed a real orangutan, so she had to make do with an imaginary one. On growing up, she decided to create her beloved companion in physical form, to try and capture its spirit in material flesh. Of course, she was disappointed.
This short one-woman (and-a-puppet) show explores the troubled relationship between myself and Orangutan - the physical manifestation of my childhood imaginary friend, sewed together from bits of leather and man-made fur. On stage the audience is made witness to my frustration with Orangutan (and ultimately myself) for her shortcomings, both as puppet and ape; and our mutual resentment of, yet co-dependence on, one and another. This 15 minute show explores, through our dynamic, the relationship between our imaginations and what we can achieve physically; the conflict between our child selves and our adult selves; and our relationship with (and manipulation of) the natural world.
This show has been an ongoing work-in-progress, and the subject matter has also been explored through various drawings and other art work. First premiered in 2012, it is still evolving.

 Performances include - Punched, Brighton 2012, 2013; Over the Moon Festival, West Sussex 2012; Babel Art Gallery, Trondheim, Norway, 2014; Ernst Busch Hochschule, Berlin, 2015; Folkestone Puppet Festival 2020.
Written, created and performed by Daisy Jordan.
Recent direction by Ulysses Black (2017) www.ulyssesblack.com