Intimacy is a theme that is currently sweeping British theatre.Such performances are often charged affairs, intense and explosive. This is all part of their appeal.
Howells’s Foot-Washing for the Sole involves a half-hour encounter in a locked room, where audience members have their feet washed and massaged by him. “I’m trying to test the boundaries and see how much risk I and the participant can take,” he says. “But there has to be mutual trust and mutual responsibility. If it’s going to work, it has to be a collaboration between me and the other person. I’m incredibly impressed by the way most people come on board. People are so willing – and that mustn’t be abused. But I always make it clear that what I’m doing is art, not therapy.” (Adrian Howells, 2009)
I believe that intimacy is can be used a tool to emotionally,physically and spiritually connect with an audience. It challenges them, forcing them to confront their own hang ups and emotions. As Howell previously mentioned, it’s about “testing the boundaries” and taking risks, something of which a conventional performance may not allow you to do.