RUINS
Confined to an ethereal video cube, three critters pulse, pupate, swell and sink. Burrowing into the undergrowth, the bodies entwine, evolving with each other and the natural surroundings presented by their imposing fortress.
Devised in colaboration with movment artists Philip Alexander, Rita Hu and Suzi Cunningham and featuring a hypnotic soundscape form Cucina Povera
Produced by Feral and supported by Creative Scotland, Manipulate Festival and Lanternhouse
“the choreography and intimacy of Ruins are striking, the most influentially abstract of the Manipulate Festival 2024 pieces”
“ mesmerising and hypnotic”
Production shots by Brain Hartley
“a bravery and conviction that only a few are willing to face head-on, the dancers singularity makes this show a must-see”
“a singularly trippy experience, This visceral, practical exploration of inter-connectedness and cross-species awareness is a testament to immense ambition.”
“Staying with the trouble requires making oddkin; that is where we require each other in unexpected collaborations and combinations, in hot compost piles. We become with each other or not at all.”
Donna Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene
Confined to an ethereal video cube, three critters pulse, pupate, swell and sink. Burrowing into the undergrowth, the bodies entwine, evolving with each other and the natural surroundings presented by their imposing fortress.
Inspired by Donna Haraway’s eco-feminist writing ‘Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene’, RUINS explores rupture, adaptation and togetherness across species juxtaposed with enduring ecological harm and emotional turmoil. How do we find and reclaim ways of being whilst living in ruins, and how do we live well in ruins with those around us?
Experimental, ritualistic and sensual, RUINS is co-created with celebrated Scotland-based movement artists Philip Alexander, Rita Hu and Suzi Cunningham. With a fluid and hypnotic soundtrack from Cucina Povera, the performance is a visionary coming together of artistic minds to create something primal and prophetic.
Credits:
Direction Bex Anson MHz
Design Dav Bernard MHz
Movement Artists Philip Alexander, Rita Hu and Suzi Cunningham
Composer Cucina Provera
Costume, Hair and Makeup SaeHee Simmons
Dramaturg Lou Cope
Choreography support Jack Webb
Additional Music Jamie Grier
Research consultation Persephone Pearl
Press Storytelling Pr
Production and Press Images Brian Hartly
Producer Feral
Supported by Creative Scotland, Manipulate Festival and Lanternhouse
RUINS Shows 2024
Lanternhouse Theatre, Cumbernauld
Friday, 2 Feb 2024 (19:30)
Public Workshop, Thursday, 25th January
Manipulate Festival, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Sunday, 11 February 2024 (18:00)
If you are interested in booking RUINS please contact our producers weareferal@outlook.com
PREVIEWS
We hope to transport you to another headspace, where you feel uplifted and hungry for life’s “gnarly twists and turns
Megahertz on finding life amidst RUINS- TheQR
The image making process has been largely led by movement techniques and inspired by action painting and surrealist cut up processes—applied to basic digital tools like scanners and drawing programs
- Earthly Delights MHZ spk to Lorna Irvine at Fjord Review
We started to ask ourselves, “What if all organisms including humans are tangled up with each other?”. We experimented with the transience and liveliness of landscapes, “more than human” rhythms, the knotting of bodies and the questions: do we need to “undo” ourselves in order to “remake” ourselves, should we become “inhuman” to find “humanity”, and what is our “eco system”?
Meet MHz, The Team Behind ‘Ruins’, The Indiependent
“The body is better placed to help us think and feel. Becoming more critter lets us metamorphosize, loop around and through each other, forge extreme collaborations and adapt. Our metaphor is about joining together in a tangle of threads and tendrils emphasizing the interconnectedness of humans, machines and environment.”
In Conversation with Bex at Megahertz, Ayoungishperspective
1,Tell us about Ruins – what can we expect from the show?
Prepare to plunge into a hypnotic subterranean realm brimming with transformation, where glowing digital burrows illuminate expressive movement and ecstatic noise fills the air. Our story unfolds in a stark and unsettling environment, where humanity teeters on the brink of extinction. Yet, unbeknownst to them, a mysterious “critter brain” emerges, offering wisdom gleaned from our forgotten, compost-dwelling ancestors.
2, Ruins is inspired by Donna Haraway’s eco-feminist writings – how did you find her work and are there other writers whose works inspire you?
We discovered Donna Haraway’s work through word-of-mouth recommendations from activists, artists, and our dramaturg, Lou Cope. We’re also inspired by other writers and artists, including:
Manga and animation: Nausicaä Valley of the Wind, Junk Head animation (featured at Manipulate)
Surrealists: Man Ray, Leonora Carrington, and Czech animator Jan Svankmajer
Dance: Damien Jalet, Peeping Tom, Iona Kewney, and Collette Sadler
Writers: ‘Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet,’ ‘Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene’ by Anna Tsing, Octavia Butler, and ‘The Metamorphosis’ by Kafka
Read the full interview here
REVIEWS
This visceral, practical exploration of inter-connectedness and cross-species awareness is a testament to immense ambition.
The Quinntessential Review- Will Quinn
It is exciting to see, hear and feel this performance, at the cutting edge of modern technology
North West End
Pulsating, successful, and both as sobering as it is celebratory
Corr Blimey
Cucina Povera’s mournful score and glossolalia allows glimpses of faith and devotion.
The Skinny