The Lowry Scores 100%

I was so pleased when the head of theatre operations over at the Lowry asked me to design exciting new project as part of their week 53 festival. Less of a theatre performance and more a piece of interactive community work, the project pioneered by Rimini Protokoll take 100 people from around the city.  The cast is made up from people who represent Salford based on the last census and represent ethnic backgrounds, sex, age etc.  The show then explores their opinions of certain subjects, asking a series of questions that the cast answer.  

The show based around a huge revolving stage was almost entirely music led with the cast taking cues from ether music or sound effects for their movement and choreography, it was very exciting.  The music was a mix of  play back based on Ableton Live. something Id never really had a lot of experience with before this show and a live ensemble of local musicians and song writers. As the show was largely devised, based on a template from previous models, some of the sections of the performance only came together in the final few days making for some exciting sound effects sourcing and editing! I really enjoyed finding sounds from Salford and the surrounding areas but also thinking of  everything I recorded, would this say Salford to a local resident?  what sounds to they hear that remind them of their city day in day out? Meny of the clips where understated and embedded into loops of music such as the metros horn or the sound of the lowry outlet mall. 

With only two performances the week was all over so quickly but it was great to be back in The Lyric Theatre gain.