"110 m.p.h."

This full length solo work tells the true story of the car crash in which I was a passenger. I suffered life changing injuries. These include brain damage. It has been a long road to get to where I am now.

I have affection for this piece. It is a work of raw truth. Since "110 m.p.h." my work has developed. Now my work focuses on saving nature and the over arching tone is joy.

"110 m.p.h." was the first time I combined film, photography and poetry. This was when I fell in love with combining words and digital media. I performed the full length spoken word solo piece in front of a film backdrop. The film was a moving image and photography montage which I made. I used colour to represent recovery. The tricky part was making sure I performed in synch with the film - most of the performance I had my back to the screen!

"110 m.p.h." ran at Nuffield Theatre (MAST) Southampton just before lockdown in February 2020.

Dialect published an article about "110 m.p.h." by me here: https://www.dialect.org.uk/blog/110-mph-ten-years-in-waiting

The work was reviewed by The Edge SUSU: "As well as the power within the words, there is extreme merit in pairing this with the visual of the cinematic projection throughout the piece. Though opening drone shots of a mundane early morning across residential locations and roads are calm and peaceful, but this is flipped as soon as shout cues the music to stop and the crash to happen on screen. The burst of light is something we cannot look directly at and in that moment the audience are made uncomfortable and share the feelings of confusion that ring true in the real incident. The darkest moments of the narrative are accompanied by close-up black and white shots of indistinguishable objects and people, but by the end with the promise of life and joy, we are treated to vibrant images on screen and happier, more colourful shots that perfectly exemplify the challenging journey of recovery as well as the happiness it can lead to.

[Phillips] has crafted a powerful and emotionally intertwining show that creates an impact but is at times quite uncomfortable. The use of silence and the intimacy between the audience and this singular figure on stage speaking into a microphone where every sound of her mouth and every breath is amplified creates an atmosphere that is quite eerie and uncomfortable. Although it feels quite strange, it adds to the journey of the narrative and means the audience is never comfortable, instead they are drawn towards the performance and at the will of Phillips, ready for every twist, turn, and shock.

110mph is show that is extremely raw and honest, and provides an interesting and emotional exploration into what a journey to recovery can look like, and the raw emotions felt by those in that situation."

Media: spoken word, film, photography and music

Please watch a trailer I made for "110 m.p.h." here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO5XFf8Ldwk

Below are images from the live perfomance followed by stills from the film.