“Where We Live & What We Live For”
Our first show, “Where We Live & What We Live For” was devised and performed by myself and my father.
The Spiel:
In 1958 he (my father, before he was my father), jumped from the rocks toward the sea. The photograph catches him partway down. In 2001, he suffered a transient-ischemic attack, fell from the bike he was riding, and could not remember his name, nor where he was, nor where he lived. In response, we reclaim this lost hour, folding the space of the jump (which was voluntary) into the space of the fall (which wasn’t), celebrate the moment in which we know we have survived.
Through a series of short narrations and little performances, Simon Bowes and his 75-year-old-dad rework their family archives into a series of meditations on love, loss, happiness and the passing of time.
Whilst in development we performed at: Freshly Scratched Festival (BAC, Sept ‘08); You and Your Work 5 (Easton Community Centre, Bristol, Oct ‘08)Pilot Nights (Custard Factory, Birmingham, Dec ‘08); New Year New Spaces(BAC, Jan ‘09), SPILL National Platform (April ‘09), Burst: 51 Reasons For Living (BAC, April ‘09); Camden People’s Theatre as part of Sprint Festival, 24th / 25th June, rounding off with an uproarious 75th Birthday gig at Forest Fringe, Edinburgh, on the 28th August.
TOUR:
Warwick Arts Centre, double-billed with The Other Way Works’Avon Calling (Oct’ 09)
The Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster, double-billed with Michael Pinchbeck’s The Post Show Party Show (Nov ‘09)
greenroom, Manchester, double-billed with Michael Pinchbeck’s The Post Show Party Show (Nov ‘09)
Bristol Old Vic Paintshop, May 09 as Part of Mayfest + Performance Lecture / Demonstration: Atelier Real, Lisbon, Portugal, 18-05-10
TESTIMONIAL from Lois Keidan, Live Art Development Agency:
Kings of England’s Where We Live & What We Live For was without doubt one of my highlights from the recent SPILL Festival national performance platform – a refreshing, entertaining, charming and moving work about love and loss, about family and memory, and about we and me.
Where We Live …used many of the now familiar tropes of contemporary performance – family members, personal photos, song and dance – but Simon Bowes reimagined the potential of these materials and in the process reignited the possibilities of performance in original and deeply poignant ways. I genuinely cannot wait to see what he does next.
