New Year's Newsletter
Dear all,
2022 has ended and 2023 will be bringing lots of exciting projects!
Before I dive into the future I would love to acknowledge what happened last year. It felt almost unreal being able to be back at festivals LIVE, in person, in presenza. Emerging from the lockdowns, being able to embrace people again has been wonderful.
Macondo has been back on the road and it has reminded me of how thrilling it is to connect with people in the same room. The run at Unity Theatre, Liverpool and Chelsea Theatre, London have been a real treat. Since then I am working closely with my producer to tour Macondo further.
Swimming Home was at Torino Fringe Festival and even though it takes place in people's bathtubs, it was lovely to go to the festival in person to meet audiences, producers and fellow artists alike.
Wondermart has been presented by Compass Festival in Leeds & at PimOff in Milan and the feedback from the audience has been really beautiful. It was also lovely to see how supermarkets seemed to be invested in creating an environment which was very welcoming, thinking of their customers not just as people to sell products to, but a community to engage through unexpected forms of activities. Following the lockdowns there seems to be a new awareness of the role that spaces like supermarkets play in everyone's life. Yes to reclaiming spaces for NON commercial reasons to generate wonder and connections!
NEW PRODUCTIONS
It's not just been touring already existing shows though. Last year was very productive!!!
I was commissioned to create AUDIO TOURIST by Clod Ensemble for their Performing medicine, Communicating through Covid project. The piece invites hospital staff to sit down for eight minutes, breathe and immagine. Following instructions and sitting along a hospital corridor they let themselves be looked after for a brief moment.
BREATHE WITH ME, an audio tour of the village of Flumini Maggiore in Sardenia, was produced by Sardegna Teatro for their festival Giornate del Respiro ... I definitely did feel like I could breathe again!
Immersed in nature and in dialogue with the local residents I have loved working on this new piece. Nourished by all of the people that took part, by the amazing nature that surrounded me and by the vibrant and incredibly friendly Festival that hosted the work. It really was a period that allowed me to reconnect deeply with my practice and with the reasons why I keep making this kind of work: human connections. BREATHE WITH ME is like a canovaccio a structure that exists to frame an ever changing content that adapts and is re-written in response to the territory, wherever it goes. If you would like to host a new version of the show in your own town get in touch @ info@silviamercuriali.com
There has been lovely exchanges and workshops with students from Greenwich University, Royal Central School of Speech and drama, Middlesex University and Rose Bruford College, which always feels me with great joy and allows me to constantly re-consider the practice in relations to new generations.
Last but not least I had the privilege to create a piece for the beautiful museum, Palazzo Maffei in Verona, which hosts the private collection of Mr Luigi Carlon curated by Garbiella Belli.
Working with a string quartet, an opera singer and students from Verona's University, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Masterclass students at Teatro Stabile's Acting School I created OPENING NIGHT, which invites the museum's visitors to inhabit the space accompanied by a spatially-specific sound track and the strategy of AUTOTEATRO. The participants follow a series of pre-recorded instructions that guide them through the museum's first floor exhibition, chasing a a party which escapes them constantly.
COMING UP
I am thrilled to announce that HUMAN RIGHTS BINGO, the participatory show I created with Yael Karavan, has received funding from the Arts Council of England. Supported by Battersea Arts Centre and Lancaster Arts, the show will be re-developed as a live site-specific performance which will debut in March 2023 in Lancaster.
In September I started working on a new secret project with Delia Trice, supported by BIRCA residency program run by Susanne Danig in Borholm, Denmark. I am not going to reveal what this project is going to be yet, but I feel it'll be very special. It's been great playing with Delia and the participants of Teach Each Other Mondays organised by the wonderful Dorte and Jörn of Burmesterwium in Copenhagen. I will tell you more as the project shapes up in 2023.
TOURING
MACONDO will be in:
- Cambridge @Cambridge Junction on the 1st of March 2023
- Machester @ The Lowry on the 2nd March 2023
- Norwich @Norwich Theatre on the 4th March 2023
We continue to expand this tour so keep your eye peeled for the show might come to a city very near you soon!!!
WONDERMART, SWIMMING HOME and THE EYE continue to be available via the App Mercurious-NET, just download the app select ticket and choose the show you'd like to experience!
OPENING NIGHT can be experienced all year around at a Palazzo Maffei during the museum's opening hours. Just bring your phone fully charged and a good pair of headphones.
If you are in Verona on the 21st January I'll be at Palazzo Maffei at 4pm to present the piece and meet the audience.
GOODBYE AND HELLO!
Before I finish I would like to thank Giusi Di Gesaro who produced my work from 2019 until 2022, she pushed me and made me dream bigger. Giusi has now moved to new adventures and I wish her the absolute best in her career. She is brilliant!
I am so very lucky to be able to introduce you to my new producer, Ania Obolewicz, with whom I had the pleasure to work on Macondo as I was making it back in 2017. I am very excited about this collaboration. Thank you Ania for joining me!!!
To conclude this very long New Year's Newsletter, 2022 has been a beautiful nourishing year and 2023 is already looking very exciting and full of collaborations and connections.
I can't wait!
Now all that's left, is to wish you a very very good 2023 full of creativity beauty and serenity.