STAND & STARE
Immersive, site-specific show about a female Elvis impersonator
With a group of performers, artists, designers, musicians, technicians and volunteers we created a unique theatrical event in an old disused Boys Club.
“…inspiring, moving, funny, music was celestial, Elvis was diamond, performers superb, dance took my breath away. Could go on and on, want to be there all night!!”
Review from Stroud Life:
If you were lucky enough to get a highly sought-after ticket for Stand and Stare at Nailsworth Boys Club this weekend then you may wish to stop reading. It was quite simply an outstanding night.
Those who did get a ticket might appreciate that the performance also defies adequate description. The team of actors, dancers, and musicians, comprised locally-based Fairgame Theatre as well as professionals who had traveled from Europe to take part in the theatrical event. Directed by Rob Tannion and Greg Banks, the performers had just a week to put together this phenomenal show. Audiences were divided into groups to visit each little tableau performance, which used spaces ranging from the spooky shower room to the outside courtyard and the spacious main hall.
Through these performances we traveled through the mind and memories of Rosemary, a woman who loved Elvis and dreamed of something better than her dull marriage to Stan and working in a bakery. A dance scene in which Elvis’ body was laid out in a morgue was humorous, moving and superbly danced. The bakery scene, where the kneading of bread dough became a musical performance, again showed exceptional choreography and vitality. A trip to the tiny cinema to see Love Me Tender was yet another surprise in its beauty and emotional depth. Then there was the visual shock of the coffin in the cupboard and the ‘push-ups in the office’ scene. The boundaries between audience and performers were blurred in this multi-sensory performance. Even the real smell of baking bread wafted through the boys club.
Like all great art it has left me pondering and reliving the experience, as well as feeling grateful to the team of organisers who brought such quality to Nailsworth.
- VT, Stroud Life
Support
Nailsworth Subscription Rooms (formally Nailsworth Boys Club)
Collaborators
Over 80 performers, artists, designers, musicians, technicians and volunteers worked on this show.
Dates
February 2009
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