Open Lab Showcase

Raw art from emerging artists

Thu 5 —Fri 6 Oct 2017 ,Venue

Two evenings of raw performance from Barbican Open Lab's emerging artists after their developmental residencies in the Barbican's Pit Theatre

The Open Lab Showcase presents new work by emerging and mid-career artists after their developmental residencies as part of the Open Lab programme in the Barbican’s Pit Theatre. Open Labs give artists the chance to experiment in a working theatrical space without the expectation of a final product, creating work right at the cutting edge of contemporary performance.

The Showcase promises two evenings of raw performance from some of London's most exciting emerging artists. Thursday 5 Oct includes work from Tian Glasgow and Dickson Mbi with Friday 6 Oct, which has been co-curated with Camden People's Theatre, showcasing a piece from The Lab Collective and an extract of a work in progress from Paula Varjack. Day two will also feature immersive performances throughout the day from Lowri James.

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Booking fees

£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.

No fee when tickets are booked in person.

Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.

Day One performances

Race Today is a new piece of involving provocative theatre in development, where some decisions rest with the audience. Writers of colour have created short immersive vignettes as a part of a unique workshop engaging with the topic of race and representation in today’s society.

This was developed in the Barbican Open Lab scheme in January 2017 challenging the writers to attend the Black Cultural Archive in Lambeth to gain inspiration from the historical archive. By introducing the writers to the 1970's publication Race Today, their scenes gain a prism through which to tell stories of the modern British POC experience.

Artistic Director: Tian Glasgow

Three Degree Win, written by Sharmila Chauhan

The Dinner Party, written by Olu Alakija

Duende

Duende, is an exploration of a spirit within one self, in movement, in time and in space. The invitation to connect and see a live spirit coming in and out of its vessel can sometimes be overwhelming. As we are all visitors stepping into the light of reality, dance/rituals can sometimes be a fairy tale of emotions.

Running Where?

Running Where? is an investigation of how a simple human action plays a major role in the human experience of life, culturally, socially, politically, physically and emotionally. Combined with a strong hip hop and contemporary dance vocabulary.

Both pieces by Dickson Mbi.

Day Two performances

A new society is coming; plagued by the suspicion of strangers, a system has evolved to meet the demands of an angry and fearful population. Incoming/Exodus is an interactive, immersive experience which challenges attitudes towards immigration, with your voice centre stage.

You have been called upon to undertake a new form of civic duty, becoming immigration officers on behalf of a crumbling government. Working collaboratively with your fellow citizens, you must complete your assignment to make or break the new order.

In a world where humans have been turned into numbers, and the numbers are warped by those in power – will you break the system?

In a post-Brexit, post-UK, post-London world, Incoming/Exodus invites the audience to consider and re-imagine the fundamental building blocks of our society. Using interactive performance and elements of gameplay we ask our audience to participate in and question the decision-making process of those in power, whilst daring to imagine a different future.

Performed by the Lab Collective. Supported by CPT and Barbican Open Labs. Incoming/Exodus will be performed in full at Camden People's Theatre between 17th - 21st October.

Performed by Matthew Flacks and Amelia Vernede
Directed by Natalie Scott and Joseph Thorpe

Extract of a work in progress by Paula Varjack co-commissioned by CPT and BAC.

Paula fell in love with high fashion imagery at an early age; she grew up in a house where her mum had subscriptions to multiple fashion magazines. High fashion is an art-form built on exclusivity. People who love high art, (but can’t afford to buy it) can view it in a gallery. People who love high fashion, (but can’t afford to buy it), may feel uncomfortable even walking into a high fashion store.

While social inequality is rising, the luxury industry thrives. We sense the difference between high street and high end, but just how great is that divide? What is it about high end boutiques that so many find intimidating? Just how steep are the prices? Who are the people shopping in these stores and how do they shop? What is the psychology behind the desire to buy and own labels and how do brands manufacture that desire? Where are the spaces we feel uncomfortable in and why?

A multi-media performance about a frustrated relationship with high fashion, and how it relates to entitlement, exclusion and territory.

What We Left Behind is an immersive experience using soundscape, projection and physical theatre to create a dream like world, where some senses are magnified, others rendered useless.

Each performance is limited to six audience members and tickets must be purchased separately below.

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She sits alone at the top of the world
27,900 feet high
Perfectly still
Her life claimed by the mountain she came to conquer

Directed by Lowri James
Devised by the company
Design by Bryan Woltjen
Sound and music by Laura Caplin and Benjamin Winter
Projection by Michelangelo Dousis
Created and performed by Elsa Petit, Jess Mabel Jones, Sammy Kissin, Sarah Dowling, Jake
Snowdon, Charlotte Driessler, Morag Cross