Running Shoes – Zarina Dolan

The image is of a street lined with cars, it is the street the creator of Running Shoes commonly felt unsafe walking down on her way home from work. The image is in black and white and has white writing at the bottom that reads “Running Shoes: first person accounts of the fear of walking alone as a woman”
Running Shoes (2021) Photo Credit Zarina Dolan
The image is of a street lined with cars, it is the street the creator of Running Shoes commonly felt unsafe walking down on her way home from work. The image is in black and white and has white writing at the bottom that reads “Running Shoes: first person accounts of the fear of walking alone as a woman”
Running Shoes (2021) Photo Credit Zarina Dolan

Running Shoes is a response to the current discourse around the safety of women. This issue was brought to the forefront on the 3rd of March 2021 when Sarah Everard was murdered and raped on her walk home. Running Shoes is a 35-minute-long audio walk which is always accessible on sound cloud. The piece consists of the real-life spoken testimonies of a group of students from Glasgow which detail how unsafe they feel walking alone. The audio piece is intended to be listened to whilst walking; to work, to school etc. If you’re a privileged member of society – cis, straight man – then this walk would be most beneficial taken at night when it is dark in order to truly experience the fear of being a woman. If you are not then do not put yourself in danger’s way, listen only if it’s safe to do so. 

Zarina Dolan is a Theatre Studies student at the University of Glasgow who has a deep interest for theatre of an ecological and feminist nature. Dolan only recently stumbled upon walking art/theatre during the pandemic in a search for ways to create more accessible theatre in the height of lockdown. Running Shoes is currently Dolan’s sole public piece of theatre as she is only just beginning to share her work publicly. However, she hopes to continue making walking theatre of an activist nature that sheds light on the issues that affect those around her.  

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