Goat Island ( USA )
The Lastmaker
UK Premiere
Tue 16 / Wed 17 October
8pm
Sandfield Theatre
£9.00 / £7.00 Conc.
Duration: 1hr 20min
This renowned performance group from America comes to nottdance for a very special occasion: the premiere of their ninth and final piece ever, The Lastmaker . We have had a long relationship with the artists of this intellectually challenging collective, presenting their work several times in previous nottdance festivals. Time and time again each of their creations has worked a subtle and intense magic on new and existing loyal audiences.
In this performance, with the audience seated at opposite sides of an intimate square stage, we are taken on a historical and architectural wandering. The starting point is the singularity of buildings that have been at different times in their history a church, a mosque and finally a museum, such as the Hagia Sophia in Turkey . The structure has fascinated Western writers from poet WB Yeats to novelist Richard Powers. Here it will become a performance.
Since the beginning, Goat Island has conceived its performance spaces architecturally. In their words: we do not perform in theatres. We perform in structures of space. The Lastmaker revisits this with a matter of fact attitude, pedestrian and yet complex movements, emotionally engaging and resonating once the performance is over.
... Goat Island are simply one of the most important theatre groups working today.
BBC Radio 4
Supported by Chicago Cultural Center , USA (January 2006), the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster , and the Chelsea Theatre , London , UK (Aug-Sept 2006), the Alfred ve dvore Theatre, Prague , Czech Republic (January 2007), Theatre & TD, Zagreb , Croatia
(June 2007), and the Museum of Contemporary Art , Chicago , USA (August 2007). UK Tour is produced by Dance4 and funded by Arts Council England, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and MAP Fund.
For tour dates visit: www.dance4.co.uk
Goat Island 's Lastmaker
In October 2007, we plan to premier our ninth and final piece, The Lastmaker.
This performance situates between an audience seated at opposite sides of a square stage. The time structure reflects the historical trajectory of the Hagia Sophia: church/mosque/museum, considered here as movements encountered on different planes. Part 1 an architectural dance, in 13 detailed triadic rounds: through the 39 movements, performers diverge and reconverge, in accordance with hybrid mathematics, to a regular beat with irregular measures. Part 3 (which comes second) an archive of the restless ghosts of varied pasts: a high-energy concert of three-minute acts that include a female impersonation of Lenny Bruce's last routine, a performer singing a spiritual and accompanying himself on the saw, and re-enactments of Saint Francis's farewell instructions and the last minute of Bach's Art of the Fugue. Part 2 (which comes third) a stillness, absent of imagery: micro-performances answer recited instructions, received from invited contributors, a universe in simple words and actions. Epilogue ascension: a poem, a song, a cloud.
The Lastmaker recapitulates the concerns of 20 years of Goat Island , in what we hope will be a fitting conclusion to our contribution a journey, within a restrained structure, from the intellectual to the emotional, with lasting resonance.
Please note: The Lastmaker is still being developed. This description is a working document and is current as of July 13, 2007
We will be presenting Daynightly, a short film by Goat Island associate artist Lucy Cash (UK) prior to the performance. This can be found in the Bar area at Sandfield Theatre.
Goat Island
www.goatislandperformance.org
