Delightful. Intriguing. Resonant.
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THE CLEANSING OF CONSTANCE BROWN presented by STAN'S CAFE
@ A E Harris, 1st - 19th March, 18.30 & 20.30 (running time 70min)
(no perfs. Sundays or Mondays)
TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS ARE NOW AVAILABLE VIA THE MAC BOX OFFICE
Four lost interrogators are thrashing around in areas they're hopelessly
underqualified to deal with. They try everything they can to discover the
truth but when they get close to it, they don't recognise it. Questions are
asked and answers are given but nothing ever quite adds up. Facts slide around,
become crystal clear for a moment, but then are gone. They play at being hard boiled
cops and philosophers, psychiatrists and drummers, market researchers and
superheroes in their search for answers. But as twisted lines of questioning
cross and re-cross and absurd speculation meshes with dodgy evidence, spilt
tea and Tippex, they discover how some questions tell their own lies.
Good and True opened at MAC, Birmingham, February
2000, as part of the Moving Parts Season before touring the U.K.
during the Spring and Autumn. It was revived in 2003/4 with
performances in London and Birmingham.
No video available - yet.
Images on their way for this project.
devised and performed by
Sarah Dawson
Amanda Hadingue
Craig Stephens
Nick Walker
direction James Yarker
lighting Paul Arvidson
sound Brian Duffy
design Stan's Cafe
administration Paulette Brien
photography Ed Dimsdale
graphics Simon Ford
The show was made possible with support from Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Arts.
Good and True is about asking questions. It is about the motivations,
tactics, revelations and assumptions embedded in questioning. It is about the troubled
relationship between questions and answers. Except in the loosest possible sense it is
not a story, though it can be found to contain fragments of many stories.
It is always exciting and frightening working on Stan's Cafe shows. They are made in the
rehearsal room by trying theoretical ideas out in practice, using instinct and chance as
well as tough thinking, so it's difficult to predict what form the final performance will
take. It turns out that Good and True, in contrast to most recent projects, is based almost
entirely on dialogue.
Despite the abundance of text there is no writer's credit. Much of this text is the result
of improvisations by the cast which have been transcribed then edited, rewritten, rehearsed,
edited and rewritten again. Other passages have been written from scratch by me according to
speech patterns and themes brought into currency through improvisation. There remain a few
passages which are improvised afresh with each performance. In such circumstances authorship
is clearly shared.
Ultimately, the show is not yet finished - it remains open for you to do your own writing
job on it. We know why everything in the show is there but we haven't nailed down what
everything means. The creative links you make within the show and the meaning you draw
from it will complete our collaboration.
James Yarker
February 2000
No Reviews
Video: Good and True
DVD
£18.00 including postage
DVD
£18.00 including postage
Script: Good and True
£7.00 including postage
£7.00 including postage
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Diary
Shop
- 10th & 11th November 2004:
Warwick Arts Centre - Feb. 24th and 25th and March 3rd - 6th 2004:
Lyric Theatre Studio, Hammersmith - 20th and 21st September 2003:
Festival of Firsts, Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, London - 21st - 25th October 2003:
The Door, Birmingham REP - 21st - 22nd October 2003:
The Junction, Cambridge - 19th October 2003:
Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster - 13th October 2003:
Prema, Dursley - 12th October 2003:
St. Alfred's College, Winchester - 10th October 2003:
Warwick Arts Centre - 23rd, 25th & 26th February 2000:
MAC, Birmingham - 1st March 2000:
Studio Theatre, Leeds - 2nd March 2000:
Alsager Arts Centre - 15th March 2000:
Dartington College of Arts - 24th March 2000:
Green Room, Manchester - 7th April 2000:
Portsmouth Arts Centre