Once more into the breach dear friends. After a lengthy gestation period, the new Scallywag Theatrical Extravaganza finally had its first public outing at the wonderful Marameo Studio in Berlin on April 12. It was an excellent evening, hugely valuable and enjoyable.
Here's the program notes from that night for your perusal.
dress.code THE ADVENTURES OF ELIOT RAWDOG combines text, live music and dance. And puppetry.
Like a hall of mirrors, each element is a mirror in which the other elements can be seen. Reflections of reflections - to stimulate new ways to experience each of those elements. The goal is to create moments of ecstatic suspension that the audience must resolve, individually and collectively. A synthesis of emotion. A shared story.
At the heart of dress.code is the iconic poem by T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men, and two pieces by Erik Satie, Gymnopedie 2 and Sarabande 2.
The works from Satie and Eliot’s are separated by the 1st World War, but linked by Modernism. Both dismantle traditional forms, but Satie expresses the hopefulness and expansion of the 1890s, whereas Eliot reflects the darkness and horror of WW1.
This contrast creates a dynamic, a tension - each work offering a new way to hear the other.
The dance and costumes hope to excavate notions of gender, and make up the final mirrors in the hall.
And there's a puppet.
Next step is finding a Berlin Theatre to host the Premiere, which will run to about 25 minutes, meaning some kind of mixed program is what we'll need. Luckily, we now have a pretty good video of the shorter version of the piece from the Studio Showing at Marameo, which in theory will convince the movers and shakers of the Berlin Theatre Landscape to get behind this multidisciplinary homage to Modernism and Cabaret. Video available if you hit me up with a message.
Kunst ist schön, aber viel Arbeit. Bring it on. Watch this space. Or not. You go ahead and dance to the beat of your own drum.
