For three days I performed at Salford Central Train Station on Platform Two. I would arrive on the 14:36 train, face Platform One (where a mixture of commuters and audience assembled), a text about a moment of saying goodbye was played over the tannoy system by Tim and Martin from Northern Rail and then as it ended the 14:41 train would take me away. I would shed the clothes I was wearing and leave them on the floor, a bit like a magic act, so as the train pulled away I had gone, but remnants remained.
House, 2010
This was a one-off soap opera where barely anything happened for a whole half an hour. On the site of an old house, artist Amy Pennington and myself performed repetitive, domestic tasks. It was a tribute to the fact that nothing happens for a lot of the time, and how the weight (wait?) of the everyday, shapes our lives as much as the fleeting, memorable life-changing moments do. It was performed as part of Sounds from the Other City in Salford.
Spitfires, 2010
I performed with Eggs, a female performance collective at Contact. One piece culminated in the audience reading out love letters to me, written by me, into a crescnedo of choral adoration. Another piece involved the tricky translation of a real love letter in another language.
The Demolition of Dale Garage, 2010
The Demolition of Dale Garage was a commemorative book making performance for Dale Garage, Salford. Artist Maurice Carlin and I were interested in what is left behind when something disappears, especially an old garage on a back street in Salford. I dictated the letter announcing it´s fate, and Morry typed as fast as he could what I was saying. The process was repeated until the letter fell to just one word or letter. Then we had a toast with the audience and a drink of red wine together, remembering and toasting things. Finally we had a group photograph together, infront of the building. This was then collected and copied into a book for the audience to take home. The piece was part of Reading for Reading´s Sake festival at Islington Mill and comissioned for Lockwoods Yard, Nelson.
I worked with Quarantine on this show about what is real and what isn´t how we fit together as individuals when we are so different. What is performance and what is not. We danced to Take That, we asked the audience to tell the history of the world, we told each others stories and we told our own. Somewhere in the strangest places were the truest things, and in the most personal moments was deep uncertainty. It was really special to develop this show with one of my favourite theatre makers.
Song of Songs, 2009
Sonia Hughes´show was an exploration of women and the impossibilty of love. Together we waited for answers at a wedding breakfast, dancing, chatting, sharing, trying to see what the little things could tell us about the big things. Here I am, giving out talking about my breaking up with my ex-boyfriend and giving out increasingly unhinged fashion advice.
