Stalemate

2016, 5 minutes

A carousel with ups and downs but just going round and round and round and round and around until here and there are equal.

A man is thrown into an empty black box space (which is barely lit from overhead) giving the audience the sensation that he is stripped from everything (Colours, Sounds, Even a having a shaved head!) but it is within his fury of his expression and movement is what makes the viewer realize he wants to get out but having no sign of a period, theme or historical event, you become more conscious of yourself as you cannot relate not knowing his objective. Within time the performer will go through different moods and energy levels (as would someone do when locked up) and you begin to realize it’s actually his own skin he wants to get out off - through certain engineered moments like acknowledging the viewer is in the space (which also keeps the viewer engaged in an uncomfortable eerie way). The piece will end gradually like playing the violin until it goes out of tune, It’s very raw and the thrill is in watching the dancer become fatigued and out of breath. The overall aim is to drag out the question “why is the guy locked up?” long enough into it becomes a statement of “I totally understand how he feels” through making the visuals not just feed us context but make us actually feel it. Some people may think it’s about slavery, mental illness, deafness, homophobia… the list goes on but we all relate because the emotion and set up is stripped to its roots.



Connected mandy members:

Oliver Walker
Assistant Stage Manager
Producer