Performance Day: 16 April
at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge
11.30am Barnyard Productions
12.30pm Nicole Mollett
1.30pm Jeremy Brooker & Richard Navarro
2.30pm Louisa Fairclough
3.30pm Ben Judd
As part of the exhibition Stories in the Dark, curated by Ben Judd and co-commissioned by Whitstable Biennale and the Beaney, we are pleased to present an afternoon of performances on Saturday 16 April. All of the performers either use Victorian magic lanterns or their direct descendants, such as 16mm film or digital projectors. Performances are suitable for all ages.
Barnyard Productions
How We Need it to Be: an intriguing, eclectic performance, involving both literal and psychological projections. The actors use projection of 16mm film in their exploration of the projections we make onto other people every day, including those of audience upon actors and actors upon audience. The result is a composite of brief scenarios of mystery, pathos, and humour. Book your free place here
Nicole Mollett
Nicole Mollett will present The Lanternist’s Progress, an uncanny journey though the English countryside. Also presented is the Miniature Magic Lantern Show, a peep show performance including the use of toy magic lanterns – a table-top experience for two!
Jeremy Brooker and Richard Navarro
Lamplighters: a unique collaboration between magic lanternist Jeremy Brooker and singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Richard Navarro which delivers an extraordinary live show to fire the senses and stir the imagination. Brooker is a master of the magic lantern, presenting his own prepared slides alongside beautiful and spectacular images drawn from his collection of historical material. Folk-inspired singer and songwriter Navarro juggles violin, trumpet, piano and percussion to bring to life his original songs in performances that sparkle with wit and creativity. Book your free place here
Louisa Fairclough
Transfixed by an Image: an incantation for two singers in a stairwell. Devised with composer Richard Glover, the choral performance draws upon various source material including Fairclough’s deceased sister’s sketchbooks. The performers visualise an image in the mind’s eye which sets the rhythm.
Ben Judd
Judd’s performance Apart, We are Together references the ‘pose slide’ genre of magic lantern projections, developed in the late 19th century. Using three Victorian magic lanterns, images are projected directly onto performers, gradually suggesting a shift from disconnected to synchronised, from individual to collective. Book your free place here