Alone in a hotel room just outside Celebration, Florida – a town developed by the Walt Disney Company – Texan artist Greg Wohead records himself talking about his alienating surroundings as he drinks beer, does some exercises and fantasises aloud about meeting someone else and a possible escape.
In this new show, we do not see or hear Greg, but watch two performers repeat his recorded voice live through headphones, as they are instructed by him to move around stage, dance and sing. Every time this show is presented, two new performers take these roles. Neither of them has met each other, neither are familiar with the show and neither have rehearsed – like the audience, they have no idea what is going to happen next.
The show that unfolds is a provocation on longing, imagination and missed connections, shifting back and forth between light and dark, surreal and literal as Greg guides the performers as surrogates through which to communicate with the audience. Although the freedom of the performers is constricted, they bring their own personal history and mannerisms, opening up an opportunity for playfulness. There is always the sense that they might resist the commands of the artist.
Celebration, Florida is at The Soho Theatre 19th – 23rd June 2018, followed by a Tour.
Guest performers are as follows:
Tuesday 19 June:
Rebecca Biscuit (of Sh!t Thetare) & Kaysha Woollery
Wednesday 20 June (press night):
Lucy McCormick & Vanessa Macaulay
Thursday 21 June:
Ursula Martinez & Nick Cassenbaum
Friday 22 June:
Vijay Patel & Dwayne Antony
Saturday 23 June (matinee, 3.15pm):
Jessica Latowicki (of Made in China) & Elizabeth Chan
Saturday 23 June (evening 7pm):
George Heyworth (of Bourgeois & Maurice) & Charlotte Cooper
