An Arches Theatre New Work Commission funded by The Arches and Daedalus Theatre Company, now also revived at Camen People's Theatre, London, in a new version supported by the venue and funded by Arts Council, London.
> > Devised by Paul Burgess (director/designer) with performers Susan Worsfold, Onur Orkut and Graeme Mackay and design assistant Geraldine Greene. In the London version Onur Orkut was replaced by Paul Devaney and Katharine Williams will be returning to Daedalus to design the lights.
work in progress - model of an idea for the set design
> > Selfish is an engaging, entertaining and visually arresting bringing togther of live-art, installation, video and performance that explores the contemporary obsession with self. A devised work, it ranges from folk tales to philosophy to daytime TV, taking in costume drama and conceptual art on the way. Paul Burgess's work brings together a group of innovative performers in a multimedia installation environment that he has created in response to wide-ranging research. From the Golem of Prague to chat show philosophising, from Pico della Mirandola to Emergence Theory and from what you can do with post-it notes to psychiatric case studies, Selfish is a wide-ranging and colourful collage of overlapping sections which comment on each other, showing several interpretations simultaneously of one idea. The installation provides a continous flow of images and sounds but also works as a tool kit, supplying the performers with models and a miniature camera to create their own live-feed videos, letting them manipulate the sound and light and providing a series of frames which allow the action to split into the presentation of alternative viewpoints. A theme of the show is the way that different people in different situations have attempted, often bizarrely, to explain self-consciousness and the sense of dislocation it sometimes brings. A particular preoccupation of the show is how, in contemporary society, mantras like 'being true to yourself' can get in the way of solving social or political issues. The result is a complex, arresting and enjoyable fusion of visual art and theatre.
Since the Arches production, new ideas were workshopped at two BAC Scratch Nights before a piublic showing at Camden People's Theatre in October 07. The funding will also enable a week of research & development on possible future projects.
The set design for Selfish was on display at the Collaborators exhibition organised by the Society of British Theatre Designers at Nottingham Trent University, and is now in the new theatre gallery at the V&A museum, London. The fully illustrated exhibition catalogue is available from the SBTD office and theatre bookshops, including the RNT bookshop.
> CLICK HERE TO SEE GLASGOW PRODUCTION PHOTOS
> CLICK HERE TO SEE LONDON PRODUCTION PHOTOS
> CLICK HERE TO READ THE REVIEW IN THE SCOTSMAN
sketch book images
