Buy a ticket for performances on Friday 8th March, and get Wednesday 13th or Friday 15th March Free! 2 nights of theatre for the price of 1!

8th March Performances

LET ME CONFESS
James Hewison

 30 minutes

A solo dance-theatre performance which draws on James’s long-standing (occasionally falling-over) relationship with Volcano. It is partly an archaeology of that experience, an uncovering of moments gone, but not forgotten… perhaps because he still has some of the scars to remind him.

The piece resonates with his current research interests which examine how we reflect on our personal landscapes - cultural and environmental, real and imaginary- and how, as our bodies age, we store those ‘key moments on the road’ at a level that is bone-deep and strongly-held.

(O!) Let me confess is the opening line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 36, the following lines of which James infamously forgot one particular night on stage with Volcano, leaving him desperately trying to fumble his way out of the growing darkness of having ‘blanked’, with only the sound of Paul’s merciless giggling at his fate for comfort… we two must be twain!

The performance uses and abuses such memories, and their associated texts, peoples, dances, places, objects and relationships, to uncover stories and images and to unpick the landscape of his bones. 

STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN
Catherine Bennett and Paul Davies

30 minutes

 A duet with words and movement, inspired by a novel made entirely of questions. Some questions are troubling us, some parts of our body are still, other parts of our body are moving, everything is changing…

“When the going gets tough, are you one of the tough that gets going? Have you ever dreamed you owned apartments you were only sometimes aware you had? Do you have any ballet training, and if not, would you like some? Can you cook? Can you fight? Can you lie? Can you do anything well? What exactly does ‘Standard & Poor’ mean to you? Can you hang ten? Do you dance? Do you view extreme sports as legitimate enterprises or are they just imprudent fucking around until you get hurt? Would you rather be bitten by an alligator or a large cat? How many nappies would you say you have changed in your life?” The novel is Padgett Powell’s The Interrogative Mood.

13th March Performances

WOMEN IN L.O.V.E.
John Hardwick

30 minutes

Women in L.O.V.E. takes a new look at an old classic. Volcano’s celebrated dramatization of Shakespeare’s Sonnets provides the basis for a show which sets out to interrogate a seminal work, to find new meanings in it, and to maybe show it a new trick or two. Directed by John Hardwick, and featuring Mairi Phillips and Fern Smith. The piece is performed by two unique “dark ladies’” whose aim is to test the enduring brilliance of Shakespeare’s poetry and to lay bare the secrets of what lay beneath Volcano’s original production.

DOIN' DIRT TIME
Fern Smith (with Philip Ralph) and Guests

30 minutes

Based on a transcript of an astonishing interview by arts commentator Suzi Gablik in her book Conversations Before the End Of Time. In “Doin’ Dirt Time” Gablik speaks to Rachel Dutton and Rob Olds, two celebrated American artists who gave away all their artworks and possessions.  Following the interview they disappeared into the American wilderness, after an intensive study of tracking and survival skills. This powerful piece questions the role of the arts in society and fundamentally questions the existence of art itself. Fern Smith and Philip Ralph will play Dutton and Olds, but the role of the interviewer will be taken each time by a performer with no prior knowledge of the content. Guest performers are Jason Benson, Sarah Woods, Emily Hinshelwood, Rhodri Thomas, Tom Payne, Carys Shannon and Lucy Neal. The performance uses a fascinating technique pioneered by Alecky Blythe of Recorded Delivery Theatre, in which actors interpret verbatim recordings in real time. Disturbing, surreal and evocative… Followed by a short discussion.

15th March Performances

WOMEN IN L.O.V.E.
John Hardwick

30 minutes

Women in L.O.V.E. takes a new look at an old classic. Volcano’s celebrated dramatization of Shakespeare’s Sonnets provides the basis for a show which sets out to interrogate a seminal work, to find new meanings in it, and to maybe show it a new trick or two. Directed by John Hardwick, and featuring Mairi Phillips and Fern Smith. The piece is performed by two unique “dark ladies’” whose aim is to test the enduring brilliance of Shakespeare’s poetry and to lay bare the secrets of what lay beneath Volcano’s original production.

THE MEDICINE SHOW (OUT-TAKES)
Mr & Mrs Clark

30 minutes

A birthday gig from the bizarrely delightful performance duo. Mr and Mrs Clark intend to diagnose and heal ailing individuals, struggling couples and a despondent community with this creative approach to alternative medicine. Mr & Mrs Clark are Associate Artists with Volcano. They create strange, hilarious, thought-provoking and instantly-recognizable performances. They devised and performed in What Am I Doing Here? and directed Unknown Pleasures 2009: Walk the Dead Dog. Prosthetic Soul was a Clarks/Volcano co-production, and the first all-singing, all-dancing Volcano musical. Here they present some of their recent work in a gig/cabaret setting. Place yourself in their capable hands, and do not be afraid! “They will rock your world” The Scotsman.

Give us a call on 01792 464790 or email me at rory@volcanotheatre.co.uk to book.

www.volcanotheatre.co.uk