“The modern day Bette and Joan who not only let their hair down but also their mothers, their old dance teachers and their therapist”

Choreography and Direction: Mark Edward.
Creative Collaborator: Julia Griffin.
Special guest appearances.

Film: Peter Boulton and Stuart Brookes. Edited by Peter Boulton.

Photographs: Stuart Rayner

Falling Apart at the Seams explores hybrid performative elements: contemporary dance, text, film and sound. The piece is a quirky duet utilising irony, black humour and scathing wit. Two performers take to the stage like gladiators of their long gone past, yet both are in severe denial. Cracking hip bones, dodgy lip-synching and a constant need to take centre spotlight is the undercurrent of the narrative structure of the work.

The choreographic project will use the techniques of European Dance Theatre and current contemporary dance practice to interrogate and subvert the current culture of dance and what constitutes a dancing body. Physical imprinting from past embodied dance technique, irony, humour and company repertoire will also be explored. The project seeks to liberate the dancer from the constraints of these ‘ideological’ identities.

“Falling Apart at the Seams humorously captivates the audience with issues of dancers clinging to dance performance of the past and literally competing for centre stage. Edward’s ability to question modern dance conventions through volatile, engaging tactics is both commendable and riveting.

It is not possible to watch Edward’s work without reflecting on modern dance culture which he so excellently parodies. The last image of the dancers following a larger than life white rabbit off the stage to the lyrics which promise of a ‘wonderland far away’ is a striking image to end a provocative work.”

Christy Adair, 2008, Dance Writer.

Falling Apart at the Seams was selected for British Dance Edition 2008, Dance Fest UK 07, Arts Forum 07 in relation to Shooting Fish, Research forum 07, LEAP Festival 07, Marks of Time 07 international dance conference and Dance Cuts 2006.

Lemn Sissay, poet.

A journey in the dark for one person at a time.
“I wanted to investigate how far it was possible to create a narrative that existed only in the audience member’s head. I wanted to play with the idea of fear and move beyond it. I wanted to use no words in the dark, strip away the visual and explore our other senses – especially sound and smell. Smell has been important in many Quarantine projects: I made a smell design for See-Saw, and later, Frank. The smells and sensations of food were as important as the visual in EatEat.
I planted various objects in the dark space, specific and evocative for me, another story for the audience: grass, smell of violets, a jacket that smelled of the stables, a velvet box… These acted only as abstract triggers: what the audience choose to engage with and where they took their narratives were entirely their own choice. A performer inhabited the darkness, guided or played with the visitor when necessary.
something… has developed and changed through its performances. The physical shape is different in every location, and I have become gradually more interested in the challenges of its construction. The piece has a different meaning for me now.”
Renny O’Shea, Director

Promoters can obtain a full dvd copy of the show by contacting Quarantine

This is a special opportunity to join the Nuffield in a day and night celebration of innovative artists and performances. The festival will centre around the conclusion to Rules & Regs, a national project which challenges artists to work in response to a set of rules devised by the host venue. We’ll be presenting five short pieces devised exclusively for this weekend by North West artists Levantes Dance Theatre, Neil Callaghan, Simon Bowes, Simone Kenyon and Christine Entwisle. The focus is very much on the artistic process, and once performed, it is unlikely these works will be seen again.

Nuff Said III will also be looking back to land and out to sea – reflecting on the experiments in programming, projects and commissioning that have defined the Nuffield Theatre over the last twelve months, and seeking your ideas and feedback as we look to the future. This will be an informal affair, taking a theme related to the rules our artists have been following. Finally, there will be a party til late, celebrating a successful Nuffield season. We really hope you can join us.

Tickets £8/£6 concessions - Tickets include buffet, refreshments, ice-cream and the occasional squawk of a gull in the distance. Knotted hankies and suncream optional.

Tickets are limited so please book early.

For (provisional) line up of events, see the Nuffield website, along with further information on the ‘rules’. If you would like any more info on this event, please contact Alice Booth, on
alice@nuffieldtheatre.com

Nuff Said by the Sea
Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University
2.30pm til Late on Saturday 26th April (£8 / £6 concessions)

Nuffield Theatre Box Office
Tel: 01524 594151 (please leave a message)
Text: 07810 082832
Email: boxoffice@nuffieldtheatre.com
Online: www.nuffieldtheatre.com

we begin to look for a way home…

Obstacles to Coming Home is beautiful, evocative, epic yet intimate visual theatre which investigates personal and nostalgic journeys. It imaginatively incorporates live and recorded soundscapes, video projection and theatre performance to create a charming search for a plateau in life that we would like to call ‘home’.

Presented on a brilliantly designed large map of America the work traces an epic journey drawn across two great American texts; Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song.

From a far-off transistor radio, the sounds of a distant age drift listlessly into the evening sky. In the mid west of America, two figures say their inevitable farewells. One resumes his journey without a second thought, the other stands in a haze of rain with a backward glance. ‘Boy Lost’ and ‘Defiant Girl’ recount thier memoirs and stories; still unsure as to whether they even left home.

“Angel Club North is without doubt one of the north west’s most talented touring companies” (Manchester Evening News)

The Company aim to make experimental, contemporary performance work across a range of disciplines with an emphasis on the evocative and the sensual. Formed in 2003, Angel Club (north) received a method lab commission from the greenroom(Manchester) for their first work, Angel Club (north) and were selected for the National Review of Live Art 2004 (Glasgow).

Subsequent works include 360 degrees ( and falling) in 2005 and I’ve never been to the moon in 2006. Their current work in production, Obstacles to Coming Home was originally commissioned by the greenroom and further developed by the Royal Exchange Theatre Studio.

Angel Club (north) are produced by 3-sixty and received financial support from the Arts Council, greenroom and University of Central Lancashire.