Abacus of because
(collaboratively devised music-theatre)
DURATION:
ca. 40' (work-in-progress sharing duration)
INSTRUMENTATION/FORCES:
6 on-stage performers
1 off-stage performer
1 performer at lighting console and sound desk
Blackbox theatre equipped with moving head lights
[2022]
Collaboratively devised and performed by Current Resonance (Matthew Grouse, Dylan Richards, Joss Smith and Michael Hope) & K!ART (Hsiao-Tung Yuan, Mikkel Schou, Rob Durnin, Roberto Beseler)
Light performer for w.i.p. sharing: Sól Ey
'abacus of because' (working title) is a collaboratively composed music-theatre work that touches on themes of surveillance, authority, and gamified routines. An all-seeing off-stage performer dictates each and every action or sound that the on-stage performers / automatons have to execute (via a constant stream of in-ear, spoken cues and commands).
The exercises range from futile, isolated procedures such as hitting croquet balls around a course made of cables and amplified found objects, to playful group behaviours involving childish sonic and physical imitation.
Staging, lighting, the theatre's technical resources and all sound-making instruments / objects become inseparable parts of the compositional material and performance experience. The theatre’s moving light heads are mic’d up revealing their inherent but hidden musicality as they turn; the lighting desk is played rhythmically like an instrument, signalling performers when to start and stop playing; and the cables that connect microphones to the PA are given the dual purpose of acting as tracks to carry croquet balls around the stage.
PERFORMANCES:
Work-in-progress sharing as a culmination of the Åbne Scene Residency Programme 2022 - 24.10.22