'Woo Woolf' Unveiled – an interview with Ensemble Not Found

Woo Woolf, a devised performance by the migrant-led group Ensemble Not Found, invites you to step not just into a theatre, but into a dreamscape where time, language, and identity shimmer and dissolve like water. With its imminent staging in a few days, this multilingual work is poised to intrigue, provoke, and move all who encounter it.

From “A Room” to a Space of One’s Own

The genesis of Woo Woolf is rooted in the ensemble’s shared admiration for Virginia Woolf’s writings. Drawing direct inspiration from A Room of One’s Own, the piece presents three Marys: the oracles, a dancer, and a translator. They traverse the stage in search of Woolf through the rituals of spirituality, movement, and writing. These fragments are laced with Woolf’s major themes: gendered histories, the struggle for autonomy, the fragility of language, and the power of everyday spaces.

Director and concept originator Xiaonan reflects on the show’s evolution: “For this phase, it’s the first time we had a full script before rehearsal, with defined characters. Previously, it was more abstract and difficult for audiences to follow. This time, the script became our anchor in the devising process”. 

A Devising Process: Movement and Materials

Unlike conventional productions, Woo Woolf’s script, movement, and concepts were co-created by the ensemble. Early rehearsals included playful workshops in free writing and movement, drawing deeply on each performer’s daily routines and favourite recipes. A workshop with wire as materials led by scenographer Sanli proved unexpectedly vital: “At first, it was just a random experiment: sculpting faces, finding connections between ourselves and our characters. Later, as the show developed, fragments of these explorations were woven back in”. Xiaonan explains. Keeping the traces of their creative process visible and alive seems to echo with Woolf’s rhythmic writing. 

The show’s physicality is shaped not only by body movements but also by the props and materials. Fabrics, sometimes shimmering and flowy, sometimes heavy, echo Woolf’s signature stream of consciousness. It appears to suggest both the fluid freedom of thought and the weighted history of migration and gender. Wency, performer and movement director, shares: “Everything, even the breath, is movement on stage. The material itself has its own rhythm, you can’t force it; you have to listen, respond”.

Photo provided by Ensemble Not Found

Multicultural Voices & Universality

Though steeped in Woolf's reference, Woo Woolf draws from the ensemble’s lived experiences as migrants, bringing rich linguistic and cultural diversity. “The language we speak, Mandarin or English, each has its rhythm, like Woolf’s momentum of the sentence. I have tried to infuse this rhythm into the script, hoping to make audiences feel what it’s like to read her work,” shares Xiaonan.

At the same time, the production resists a rigid cultural reading. Even with the use of the draping long sleeves often seen in Chinese dance, Xiaonan would like to lessen the cultural implications. She also thinks that deities are more of a concept than a form. The iconic three Marys drawn from Woolf’s essays are shapeshifters, not confined by time, space, or gender, evoking both universality and specificity in female identity.

Photo provided by Ensemble Not Found

Stream of Consciousness: Structure and Narrative

If Woo Woolf seems fragmented at first glance, that’s by design. Both structure and content mimic Woolf’s literary techniques: a narrative that ebbs and flows, sometimes tangling and at other times releasing its threads. Francesca, performer, likens it to a mind map made visible in bodies and movement: “It’s about sensations, not a solid narrative. Feelings are amplified. You scratch the surface of a light, comedic moment, and suddenly there’s depth, even darkness, underneath”.

The linearity of time collapses in the piece, echoing both Woolf’s literary abstracts and the lived experiences of migrants for whom time and place are constantly shifting. The notion of “a space of my own” transmutes from a physical room to a metaphoric site of safety, sometimes a kitchen, sometimes a bathroom, sometimes merely the privacy of one’s thoughts.

Alchemy of Humor and Darkness

Surprisingly, humor seeps into the show as it evolves. The creative team expresses a consensus that it isn’t part of their initial vision: “We didn’t set out to make it funny, but it happened. There’s a balance between lightness and darkness; sometimes a comic moment reveals something unsettling beneath”.

As the piece evolves on stage, Woolf’s consciousness is conjured in unexpected ways: through swirling fabric, in the intimacy of a kitchen, or in a joke that lingers longer than expected. Each scene blurs narrative lines and travels through time, inviting theatregoers to step into a world shaped by rippling stories — where gender, migration, language, and memory collide and flow, offering much more than mere entertainment.