In My Head
An extraordinary experience of ordinary, everyday sound.
A powerful one-woman dance theatre work with bold physicality, vivid poetry and original, innovative sound design, exploring everyday sound and hearing loss.
A dancer wrestles with sound as it misbehaves in ways you wouldn’t expect. Sometimes it engulfs you. Sometimes it lingers on the tip of your tongue. Sometimes it disappears altogether.
Hearing loss affects 1 in 5 people, yet it remains largely invisible; a private, internal landscape with profound consequences.
In My Head is an intimate and striking experience, a personal and universal exploration of everyday sound performed by Emily Alden and created in collaboration with sound designer and composer Daniel Hayes (Alesandra Seutin, Tony Adigunn, Caroline Bowditch).
““Openness, honesty and skill. Powerful and thought provoking.
You were not only sharing your work and personal experience but also educating us.” ”
News for 2026
In My Head is produced by Impossible Producing and supported by Hall for Cornwall.
As part of the projects’ development Work In Progress sharing’s were performed at the FIA Fest (Falmouth International Arts Festival) in early March 2026, part of the Made in Cornwall showcase. Further development and touring plans for the work are ongoing, more updates soon.
All images by Steve Tanner - work in progress sharings 2019 Kneehigh Presents programme during The Asylum season.
Early R&D Phase supported by a Developing Your Creative Practice grant.
The project’s early research and development was supported by Arts Council England through a Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) award, alongside support from Kneehigh Theatre, AMATA at Falmouth University and Hall for Cornwall, where Emily was an Associate Artist from 2018–2023. Emily spent two intensive research weeks (February and May) working with sound designer Daniel Hayes, and on the initial conception dramaturgy with theatre director and BSL interpreter Sue MacLaine, alongside a small team of artists. Together they investigated new approaches to sound, movement, and composition, playing, experimenting.
This research was developed largely from the remote and distinctive home of Kneehigh Theatre at the Kneehigh Barns. The coastline, vocal work, and natural, found and composed sound became central tools in uncovering the work’s underlying themes.
The final sound design is created (mostly) from Emily’s body; an intricate and deeply affecting collection of interconnected soundscapes, live sound, composed music and text, brought to life with the choreography in live performance.
The initial idea was seeded through Hall for Cornwall’s Creation Space programme (2018), which offers Cornwall-based artists time and space to nurture new collaborations and ideas. During this period, Emily began developing the work with actress and musician Catherine Lake.
You can read more about the R&D phase in Emily’s blog post reflecting on working at the Kneehigh Barns here.
Early work in progress sharing’s were presented in summer 2019 as part of the Kneehigh Presents programme during The Asylum season.
Alongside the live work, the project also generated an audio “sister project,” Surrounded By Sound, created during the 2020 lockdowns. Developed from binaural coastal recordings in Falmouth with actor, writer, and theatre-maker Ciaran Clarke, the project was supported by FEAST’s Re-ignition Fund and has since been accessed by listeners globally.
““An intimate and heartfelt piece exploring hearing loss. A privilege to see the work in progress.””
All images by Steve Tanner - R&D at the Kneehigh Barns
A collection of 8 soundscapes from the shores of Gyllingvase (Gylly) & Grebe beaches in Falmouth. Recorded during early 2019.
The soundscapes are a unique type of immersive audio recording which gives the listener an extraordinary feeling of physical space.
Share the soundscapes with friends & family, rekindle memories, enjoy the beaches we aren’t able to visit right now & escape through sound to Cornwall.
Supported by Feast as part of their Re-Ignition Fund.