A challenge brings something into being
a seduction tempts it into another form upon the functionalization of a passionate affair
(the necessary kiss-and-tell);
upon the ecstatic chaos of seductions within seductions
(love’s strange attractors).
A manifesto for lovers: combining original score and text with stylised choreography
the piece is a meditation upon the implications of the science of chaosfor the politics of desire.
This show represented a step-change in our work across a range of areas: choreographer Sara Giddens worked with text written by director Simon Jones for the four performers; rather than found music, we worked with an original score composed by Christopher Austin and a set designed by Bridget Mazzey. We made the work alongside Ex*hibit and in many ways in complete contrast to it: where Ex*hibit was all sound and fury, in-yer-face posturing, Love is…was abstract, elusive, philosophical in its concerns, musing on the relations between chaos theory, quantum mechanics and human relationships. The only record of the show, apart from the script, is a series of black-and-white photographs, since at the time we were very anti-documentation as we thought it was attempting to steal the soul of live performance.
CHRISTOPHER AUSTIN composer, NITINCHANDRA GANATRA performer, SARA GIDDENS choreographer, SIMON JONES writer/director, URSULA LEA performer, BRIDGET MAZZEY designer, JUSTIN O’SHAUGHNESSY performer, KATHERINE PORTER performer
Music performed by: ROBERT LAMB flute/piccolo/alto flute, LARA MEPHAM oboe/cor anglais, ROBERT PLANE clarinet/bass clarinet, COLIN APPLEBY horn, JEREMY LITTLE percussion, DIGGORY SEACOME percussion, JAMES HOPPER violin, SARAH OGDEN violin, BECCIE PEARCE violin, LISA ISTED viola, ALAN CHARLTON cello, BEN GROENEVELT double bass
With: LUCY BALDWYN photography, DAVID JONES set construction
Performed at: Wickham Theatre (Bristol), Playroom (Lancaster University), Prema Arts (Dursley)