Polia's Power

Artemis Consort bring Polia's Power to St Paul's Church on Sunday 11 October, as part of the October Unpacked programme. It's a retelling of The Dream of Poliphilus, a 15th-century Renaissance tale of desire and imagination, but told from a different angle: the story is recounted through the eyes of Polia, a character who remains silent in the original novel.

That silence is exactly what the performance works around. By giving Polia a voice, the piece questions the assumptions of the male gaze that shape the original story, turning a passive figure into the one telling the tale. It's a female perspective on a text that usually leaves her on the sidelines, and the whole thing is built around themes of longing, agency and the female voice within a richly imagined dreamscape.

On stage, the music is contemporary with the novel, so you'll hear sounds from the same era as the story itself. That sits alongside storytelling and live video art by Silvia Fabiani, who provides the visual side of the performance. The combination of the two — the music and the video — is how the dreamscape is built around you, rather than just described.

It starts at 19:30 at St Paul's Church, on West Street in Brighton (BN1 2RE). Tickets are £25 standard and £8 concession, though those are guide prices and subject to change.