Base Theatre: [press release]
Base Theatre presents "To have done with the judgment of Artaud"
VENUE 45, Edinburgh, 6-11 August 2007, 11 pm (40 mins)
Contact: basetheatre@googlemail.com
Two dancers, a composer and a vocal artist perform a gripping new interpretation of Antonin Artuad's legendary radio play, "To have done with the judgment of god." Originally commissioned by Radio France in 1947 but then banned for its strong content the piece was the last work written and recorded by Artaud shortly before his death. The original work is an electrifying combination of political, and still relevant, denouncements, surreal ritualistic evocations of Artaud's life among the Tarahumaras Indians of Mexico, and a powerful meditation on the idea of creativity and madness. Artaud’s recording crackles with the rage of a man alienated from society, but his voice was to influence the whole future of theatre and artistry.
Taking as a point of departure the original script of the play, Base Theatre harnesses the inspiration of four talented artists from different disciplines – music, sound installation, contemporary dance, and theatre – and brings them together in this uniquely absorbing experience. Their performance is a fascinating exploration of particular aspects of Artaud's ideas about movement and sound. An active development of the human voice connected to physical movement is counter-pointed by the use of radios acting as mobile sound sources from which the voice of Artaud himself echoes across.
Base Theatre is: Joanna Young 'An adventurous choreographic voice' (Dancing Times); Sarah Eldin, a member of Verve contemporary dance company; Felipe Otondo, lecturer in Electroacoustic Music at Leeds College of Music; and Omar Shahryar, an experienced experimental vocalist and performer.
Base Theatre is sponsored by The Northern School of Contemporary Dance and The Music Department of The University of York.
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
- All performers are available for interview and advance photographs.
- Joanna Young and Sarah Eldin are graduates of The Northern School of Contemporary Dance, achieving both a BPA(Hons) degree and a Graduate Diploma in Contemporary Dance
- Omar Shahryar and Felipe Otondo are post-graduate students of The University of York’s Music Department.
- Collectively the four artists are knows as Base Theatre
- Artaud died shortly after the broadcast of his radio play ‘To Have Done with The Judgement of God’, which this performance if based on. During his life he had spent time amongst the Tahumaras Indians in Mexico and had been comited to a sanatorium
basetheatre@googlemail.com
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