Due to popular demand, we're back with another mind-bending arts show at Shoreditch Church.
This time, a new collaboration between 'mesmerising' (The Independent) Eugene McGuinness and one of The Times' top rising stars of literature, performance poet Ross Sutherland, forms the centre piece of a show themed on Baptism. Baptisms of fire, total immersion, John the Baptist and the dance of the seven veils, comings of age, sin and purity... it will all be there amongst the blistering display of artistry, talent and showmanship of this god among events.
"Spectacular arch artiness" The Guardian
Saturday 10th April, 2009 // 7 – 11pm
Shoreditch Church, London Adv. tickets £10
Mercy's creative partners for these shows, pop-experimentalists Wave Machines, will also be presenting brand new collaborative work with poet and Mercy Creative Director Nathan Jones (“strident, dramatic and compelling” The Londonist), alongside work from London's hottest literary-salon, Book Club Boutique, host Salena Godden, and South Bank-resident and Warp contemporary-classical piano innovator Sarah Nicolls.
ACTS
Live acts are supported by a team of Mercy's artists in residence –Scott Spencer, Adam Sloan and Becky Grove – providing new multimedia, illustration and set-design work.
Music !!!
Wave Machines
Co-hosts Wave Machines make instinctive art-pop with an energy, complexity and intimacy that gives their live performances the feel of epic experience. With their English melancholia pricked by impudent promise, they are part of that eccentric lineage of home grown musical adventurers XTC, The Beta Band and Hot Chip. The Wave Machines/Mercy relationship has grown and developed as their collective stars have risen, and WIYRT#06 promises to be a new climax in what has been a groundbreaking series of shows.
Eugene McGuinnes and the Lizards
Unstoppable vocal impresario uniting the styles of Wainright, Morrissy, Dylan and the proverbial fat lady, is joined by his new band to burn up the stage for a set featuring new material, and tunes from his forthcoming second album Glue, along with a new collaboration with Ross Sutherland. Eugene is one of the most distinctive performers on the scene, and this setting will be perfect for this unique brand of neo-pop.
Gary Daly
Lead singer of 1980's pop-ballad superstars China Crisis, performs new solo material from his limited release e.p. on Polite, and presents a series of new artworks as part of the setting for this magical event
Sarah Nicolls
Sarah Nicolls is a pianist specialising in contemporary music. She has performed concerti with the London Sinfonietta, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, appearing in solo recital over a dozen times on Radio 3, and receiving consistent critical acclaim since her South Bank debut in 2001. Sarah will be presenting her work exploring the expansion of the grand piano with electronics and pre-recorded sound alongside new poetic work from Mercy.
Poetics !!!
Ross Sutherland & Eugene McGuinness
One of The Times’s Top Ten Literary Stars of 2008 and Time Out Award-winner. Ross's new solo show The Three Stigmata of Pacman, has received rave reviews across the board. For this collaboration with Eugene McGuinness, Ross will be directing a musical of his own life, where he is played by a female lead. Absurd, touching and hilarious.
Salena Godden
Hostess of top literary salon Book Club Boutique, Salena is one of the best writer-performers in the game. Her poetry sets veer from the heart-warming to the downright filthy. For this show, Salena will be exploring sin, purity and heavenly delights.
David J
“The Vocal Pugilist” remains one of the most powerful and original performers in spoken word. A heritage of r&b, rap, poetry and theatre, matched with a dedication to technical excellence, provide David J with a integrity of purpose and dexterity of delivery that will bring the even the big man's house down.
Nathan Jones & Wave Machines
This hugely inventive and ambitious resident partnership for the WIYRT events provides the dramatic setting for the shows. Nathan's distinctive delivery style is set off perfectly by Wave Machines' epic and responsive interpretations.
Performance !!!
Karen McLeod
Trained physically in styles such as Decroux, Grotowski, and Le coq, Karen creates physical performances through female personae who display transgressive behaviour, challenging the audiences’ boundaries, forcing them to question and celebrate the art of live performance. For WIYRT#06, she will be taking Salome's dance of the seven veils, and the beheading of John the Baptist as her starting point.