You know the saying, but have you ever actually done it? Walked a mile in somebody else's shoes, that is.
That's the concept behind A Mile in My Shoes, a storytelling experience that's travelled all around the world and is making its local debut on the forecourt of Arts Centre Melbourne. It's a simple enough idea – every person who visits the giant pop-up shoebox is given a stranger's shoes and an mp3 player. As you set off on a stroll in their shoes (don't worry, they clean them), you'll hear the story of the original owner of those shoes and take a moment to connect.
A Mile in My Shoes is by the Empathy Museum, an organisation that creates unique experiences to help audiences see the world through someone else's eyes. When we saw the work in Perth in 2016, we were surprised at how moving and intimate it was to give yourself over to the stranger's stories.
All together, there'll be 35 pairs of shoes in the Melbourne season, and they're all new stories collected specifically for Melbourne. So we'd recommend paying a repeat visit and seeing what you'll score in this lottery of footwear.