Time at the Unity Theatre fuses painting and performance

Oct 6 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

Dusko Sibl paints Max Rothwell for the Unity production _320

AN EXCITING new piece of theatre merging performance, painting, music and film comes to Liverpool this week.

Inspired by the paintings of Croatian artist Dusko Sibl, Time is directed by award-winning Momentum Theatre.

They will bring their intensely dynamic style of movement theatre to the piece, while Sibl will paint live on stage in three performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night at the Unity Theatre.

Images and film by Robin Rice will be projected on to different parts of the space, canvas and the actors’ bodies, and musician Barry Han will lead electro-funk group Winter Bourne & Blaster, who will create a live soundscape for the action, which will be different every night.

It is a project that came about completely by accident. Peter Ward, director of community arts organisation Hope Street Ltd, came across Sibl’s work on holiday in Dubrovnik, later meeting the artist and developing the piece from there.

Time’s structure is based on the sequence of events in the process of creating a painting, from the artist’s preparation to the soul-searching that follows as the work goes on.

Sibl, the performers, musicians and film-maker will all take cues from each other to make the structured, 40-minute performance slightly different from night to night.

Elinor Randle, co-artistic director of Momentum Theatre, said; “We really connected with Dusko’s paintings – we saw our movements in there, it was almost like we had met before.”

Sibl added: “When I came to Liverpool and saw what Momentum were doing, I really liked it a lot.

“I’m used to, as a painter, working all on your own, and this time my private thoughts are supposed to be shown – my thoughts have come to life.”

Accompanying the performances of Time will be exhibitions of Dusko Sibl’s paintings at Unity Theatre, 3345 Parr Street and The Quarter, on Hope Street.

The exhibitions will include work created specially for Liverpool in 2008 and paintings created during the rehearsal period and are included in the programme of the Independents Biennial.

The exhibitions run until October 29.

Peter Ward said: “It is exciting. At Hope Street, we are always trying to push the boundaries of moving performance.

“And it is not about being precious about traditions, but providing the opportunity for professional artists to discover and develop new art forms.”

vickyanderson@dailypost.co.uk