The Vanishing Horizon
Brief conversational description
A beautiful piece of theatre that uses forty suitcases to trace aviation of past and present, following one woman’s journey to learn more about her family.
Synopsis
A young woman called Anna receives a letter in her grandmother’s will. They have never met. Her grandmother left to live in Africa when Anna’s mother was only a child. Anna embarks on a journey to South Africa to visit the house of her deceased grandmother and collect her ashes. Meanwhile her boyfriend James is in the UK, recording a series of radio programmes based on the female pioneers of aviation. Through him we learn of these unconventional and courageous women who took to the skies. During her journey, Anna grows to understand her grandmother’s decision to leave England and pursue a life of travel and adventure in post war Africa. In Anna’s final day there she decides the best place to scatter the ashes is in the sea in Morocco rather than bringing them back with her to the UK. Her relationship with James is tested by her experiences and the distance between them.
Overall the production examines the themes of travel and flight from the glamorous and dangerous 30’s to the more mundane and commercialised present day.
Programme entry description
Total Theatre Award nominated Idle Motion trace aviation of past and present in this Fringe sell-out show. Using luggage, maps and paper airplanes, the roaring twenties and the pioneers of aviation are remembered, when flight was exciting and we began to carve our way through silent skies. From this, the modern story of a woman emerges who is on a journey to discover her past through the crowded airports of our world to another, resting above the clouds. ‘A little jewel of a show’ (The Guardian, 2010), ‘beautiful, accomplished, innovative’ (The Stage, 2010).
BIOGRAPHIES
Greg Cebula
Greg is the Technical Manager for Idle Motion. He graduated in 2010 with a 2:1 BA HONS degree in Lighting Design from Rose Bruford College. He works as a freelance lighting designer and technician on a wide range of projects ranging from architectural site lighting to his specialism of theatrical productions and live events. As well as working closely with Idle Motion he has worked as a lighting designer for Rhum & Clay and a lighting technician for the Oxford Playhouse. He has a sensitive and mature understanding of the integral role that lighting can play in a piece of theatre and this is reflected in his bold, stylistic designs.
Grace Chapman
Grace is Company Manager and Press Officer for Idle Motion. She graduated in 2009 with a 2:1 BA HONS degree in Geography from The University of Manchester. She became involved with Idle Motion in 2008 following a summer spent teaching drama in a South African High School. Alongside her passion for theatre she is a keen writer and has had articles published in The Times, The Guardian and The Independent. She also works as a freelance Broadcast Assistant at BBC Oxford, recently producing their weekly show ‘The Write Lines’.
Sophie Cullen
Sophie is the Education and Outreach Officer for Idle Motion. In 2010 she graduated with a 2:1 BA HONS degree in Social Anthropology and Development Studies from the University of Sussex. She had a keen interest in theatre from a young age, belonging to Chipping Norton Youth Theatre and Shed Youth Theatre. She continued her work at Shed Theatre when she volunteered as a workshop leader (2006/07). Her work as a member of the management committee of the Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Park (2008 - 2010), has given her extensive experience of working with children and young adults. The Garden is a community allotment that uses gardening, woodland skills and construction work as an alternative education for vulnerable school students in Sussex.
Nicholas Pitt
Nicholas graduated in 2008 with a 2:1 BA HONS degree in Drama from the University of Bristol. Whilst there, he directed numerous shows including Anthony Neilson’s dark farce The Lying Kind and Martin Crimp’s seminal fragmentary work Attempts on her Life, to critical acclaim from both his peers and his academic tutors. In 2008 he took an original experimental sketch show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He also contributed to and acted in Quail Egg Films production of Messiah and acted and participated in a large number of other stage productions, from Oscar Wilde to Stephen Berkoff, and is involved in various music projects in the bands Scarlett in the Wilderness and Natureboy.
Ellie Simpson
Ellie is Fundraising Co-ordinator of Idle Motion. She graduated in 2009 with a 1st Class BA HONS degree in Drama and English from Queen Mary, University of London. As part of her degree she also spent time studying at Melbourne University in Australia. Whilst living in London she was resident arts writers and theatre critic for CUB magazine, East London and also founded the University of London improvisation troupe, Story. Ellie is an associate member of the transatlantic London and LA based theatre company AHISMA Collective and played Prudence in their 2008 production of Beyond Therapy.
Paul Slater
Paul is the Artistic Producer of Idle Motion. He graduated in 1999 with !a 2:1 BA HONS degree in Drama from the University of Kent. He has since worked in different areas of theatre including sound design, acting and directing. He has produced many pieces of theatre including an adaptation of The Wooden Frock by Tom Morris and Emma Rice and Red Demon by Hideki Noda. Since graduating, he had been at the forefront of drama education and was made an Advanced Skills teacher in 2008.
Kate Stanley
Kate is Venue Co-ordinator and Marketing Officer for Idle Motion. She graduated in 2009 with a 1st Class BA HONS degree in Drama (and a Dean’s Commendation) from the University of Exeter. She co- founded and produced Soul Choir which won the Student Guild’s ‘Best Society‘ Award 2009. While at university she also worked as the producer for Harbinger Theatre Company, organising a free theatre festival, a large scale outdoor Shakespeare performance and a touring Theatre in Education show. Alongside her work with Idle Motion, Kate is pursuing a career in creative video projection and had had work experience placements with both Forty Nine Productions (Katie Mitchell’s video designers) and Imitating the Dog.
Who are the company?
Total Theatre Award nominated Idle Motion are a physical theatre company based in London and Oxford. They devise our shows from scratch as an ensemble through workshops and improvisation. Their filmic style is highly visual, creating bold images on stage with a creative use of props and movement with strong narratives that run throughout resulting in rounded and dynamic pieces of theatre. Idle Motion are Associate Artists at the New Diorama theatre in London, Artists in Residence at The Oxford Playhouse and are supported by Greenwich Theatre, The Lowry, mac, Jacksons Lane and award winning actress Juliet Stevenson. They are a growing company with big ideas and a huge passion for creating exciting and beautiful new work.
Press Quotes
‘A little jewel of a show...it loves its audience and in return its audience loves it...it is propelled by real ingenuity in what is one of the most inventive stagings on the Fringe...a brilliant emerging company.’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
Featured in Lyn Gardner’s National Theatre Blog of her weeks recommendations 17/09/10 - www.guardian.co.uk/stage/ theatreblog/2010/sep/17/what-to-see-lyn-gardner
‘A masterclass in staging, narrative and theatrical imagination.’ WhatsOnStage
‘The next big thing...this is something very special indeed...some of the most clever staging to be seen on the fringe.’ Edinburgh Spotlight
‘The staging is a delight of hidden surprises and the ending is so heartfelt, it brings a lump to the throat.’ The Herald
‘The sheer innovation and inventiveness of the company had me split between complete admiration and a terrible sense of jealousy.’ Broadway Baby
‘The show is great entertainment, a lesson in ingenuity, and a boundary-pushing display of creative energy’ The Skinny
Running Time - One hour with NO interval
Tickets may be purchased via credit card @ Kakiseni.com and collect from show venue on the day itself.
*All tickets are inclusive of RM 3.00 handling fee
**Please kindly present Student ID on ticket collection. |