Directing

In 2021 Jolie Rose (formerly Booth), artistic director of Kriya Arts, guided and supported 28 members of the public to create their own ensemble piece of theatre, entitled Listening to the Land Pilgrimage for Nature, whilst walking 500 miles, which they presented to delegates at COP26 in Glasgow. This epic undertaking was allowed to develop organically, trusting the process and that the story was trying to tell itself. A beautiful piece of ceremonial and emotive theatre emerged that was partly improvised and so different every time. You can see this performance here and see a documentary about the process here. 

Off the back of this, and having come to understand the importance of ‘re-indigenisation’ from this life changing experience, ten of the pilgrims formed a new theatre company; Strolling Mummers, and together staged the ancient mummers play of Saint George and His Many Enemies, which you can see here. Then off the back of this, the following year, they co-wrote a new Mummers play entitled Arthur’s Awakening; A Rousing Tale, which you can see here. Both of these productions were toured as 500 mile pilgrimages, walking the length and breadth of the land.

In 2020 acclaimed theatre company Kriya Arts created new online and live arts ensemble La Luna Coven, beginning life at the Brighton Fringe Festival, but then going online during the pandemic, La Luna Coven celebrates the four main moon phases and they’re associated attributes, connecting the phases to the seasons, phases of the menstrual cycle, a woman’s life, the elements, times of day, etc. La Luna Coven is a safe space, led by Jolie Booth, open to all those seeking a deeper understanding of their inner world, their creative potential, and are embarking on, or are already embroiled in, a love affair with Mumma Earth.

Off the back of this, in 2023, Boomtown Festival commissioned Kriya Arts to be the ‘end room’ of the Live Action Role Play game that's at the centre of the festival, which you can see here. Jolie took the La Luna Coven to the festival, which is now written into the narrative of the festival's storyline. When the players reached the end room they had to come in pairs, having realised they needed to unite with the opposing side. The teams were the head and the heart. In pairs they were brought in, cleansed, and then Jolie talked to them about the power of uniting the inner and outer worlds, and that through doing this, we can hope to create a better future, one in which we all can thrive. The priestesses then married the head and the heart together in a handfasting ceremony, and gave each of the players a timeglass containing black and white sand, telling them, as they mixed the sand together, that the game really began… Now. This work with Boomtown continued in 2024 with the priestesses walking to the festival on a pilgrimage from the Isle of Wight, which you can watch here. Just outside of Winchester, the festival is housed in an ancient land temple, and having walked onto the site, followed by the festival’s social media streams, the priestesses then opened the festivities on both the main stages as part of the opening ceremony, which you can watch here.

Before this Kriya Arts worked with award-winning director Andrea Brooks (Zygo Arts) and a whole team of awesome women to form a new play; Sisterhood. Jolie took the new show Sisterhood to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018, performing all of August at the Pleasance Beneath, and the touring East Anglia on a ‘healing’ tour, performing in places where Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General tortured and executed witches. Each performance ended with a healing ceremony, where the the names of those persecuted in that space were read aloud, honouring them, then the space was cleansed, which you can see here.

Award-nominated sell-out hit HIP returned to the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2017 as an immersive journey through the streets of 1970s Brighton as a walking tour entitled HIP Trip of Brighton: A Psychedelic Wander. HIP explores the true story of Brightonian Anne Clarke. The discovery of Anne's diaries and letters by squatter Jolie Booth, unearthed a huge archive about the city they've both lived in and the experiences they've shared. In this tour they visited the places Anne wrote about and learnt how her life left an imprint on the city.

In 2016 Jolie (then Booth) developed her first one woman show HIP, with the support of Arts Council England, Lou Rogers, Brian Lobel, Emma Kilbey, Jess Mabel Jones, Max Barton, John Hinton and the Marlborough Theatre, based on diaries and letters she found in a squat 15 years ago and has been carrying around with her ever since. Interested in discovering and celebrating ordinary people's lives Jolie is creating this show as an extra-live production, where the audience plays an integral part of the development of the work, which you can see here. 

Jolie Booth worked with Clara Gutteridge and Frances Hill as Artistic Directors of hybrid company Double Blink, which is both an arts and public advocacy company, exploring issues surrounding surveillance, privacy and human rights.  

Jolie Booth is also part of the creative team of theatre company the Suffolk Howlers, a troupe of Mummers Players who first formed at the award winning Tudor Re-Creation Kentwell Hall over a decade ago. Since then they have been writing, directing and performing Mummers Plays all over the country. Suffolk Howler's credits include performances at the National Gallery, Cecil Sharpe House, Trafalgar Square, Secret Garden Party and The Lord Mayor's Show.