The Artists Sturgeon Moon 2007
LEAD ARTISTS
The Severn Project has been working in collaboration with selected artists over the last eighteen months to create the 2007 programme of events and to plan the future of the project.
DESPERATE MEN
Desperate Men are widely recognised as one of Britain’s premier Street Theatre companies. It has established a fine reputation for high quality, original, provocative and daring street theatre. Desperate Men is an artist-led theatre company producing original, company devised, accessible shows and performances, community events and educational projects in a variety of settings, indoors and out. Desperate Men are Artistic Directors of The Severn Project, working alongside Shropshire County Council, other local authorities and artists to deliver the project between 2007 and 2009. Website
ALICE OSWALD & TAURUS VOICE
Alice Oswald is a poet with a strong interest in ecological and topographical literature. For The Severn Project, she is collaborating with the vocal group Taurus Voice on a multi-vocal poem about the tidal reaches of the River Severn. Autobiography of the Moon is a series of moon hymns, accompanied by the mutterings of an obsessive cyclist who follows the tides back and forth between Gloucester and The Severn Bridge. The poem is a tidal poem, to be performed backwards and forwards for as long as possible. Its language operates like the complex vocal compositions in the classical style, using chords, counterpoint and fuge. Oswald’s poem will be performed in disused railway tunnels along the river. Alice Oswald has recently been shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize 2007.
AVANTI DISPLAY
Avanti Display create street theatre with shows that combine comedy, surrealism, farce and spectacle. Utilising their skills in creative engineering and their trademark of using water in unexpected ways they produce shows with dramatic, often beautiful and comic effects. They recently developed a large scale, site specific, collaborative project, Hydromania!, for the National Theatre, Trafalgar Square and Manchester Town Hall. The company has toured the length and breadth of the U.K and Europe, appeared at festivals as far a-field as Korea, Noumea and Australia and have taken part in British Council tours to Thailand and China. Website
PA-BOOM
Pa-Boom is a collection of artists, sculptors, designers and technicians producing work, shows and projects using the medium of sculpture and theatre animated by fire, light and pyrotechnics. Previous work in Shropshire includes the breathtaking Light Horse sculpture, created with members of the community. For The Severn Project, they are collaborating with Desperate Men to realise the climax of the 2007 events in Bridgnorth in August. Website
WHALLEY RANGE ALL STARS
The Whalley Range All Stars are 25 years old this year. They have created over 60 different shows, installations, events and exhibitions . They have received popular, critical and public acclaim for their work which has toured to 20 countries over 5 continents. For the Severn Project they are developing a project which involves a puppet figure walking on water. The narrative will be developed for the 2008 programme. The company’s current installation “Living Room” is a commission from the Manchester International Festival and the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester where you can see it until 30th September. Website