Natural Disasters
The first major production by Station House Opera explored 'new ways of flying' - how flight and spatial freedom can be evoked in the imagination, while embracing the force of gravity as it applies to the performer. The performance space appeared to respond to the states of mind of the protagonists, whisking performers up through the ceiling or collapsing around them as the emotional drama demanded. Props and people suspended in the air pushed the dramatic medium into 3-dimensional space
with Jonathan Davis, David Goulding, Deborah King, Julian Maynard Smith, Miranda Payne, Laurie Swarbrick, Fiona Templeton, Alison Urquhart, Glenys Johnson, Sarah Logue
and Klem Jarzabkowski, Tara Babel, Frank Cummings
“One could be forgiven for thinking that this siege drama was an arty downbeat version of The Towering Inferno or a surrealist guide to Civil Defence - in the event of a nuclear attack count to ten and flap your arms. But humour (and it was very funny, a very black kind of humour) was always subordinate to the rigorous structure of the work.”
John Roberts, Artscribe
“Natural Disasters is a spectacle that one should see more than once. So many unexpected, sometimes shocking things happen, that it is difficult to register it all.”
Renske Heddema, de Volkskrant
“Human behaviour has become insane. The day of judgement is near by, but Station House Opera shapes it in a remarkably funny way, and – technically speaking, startlingly well performed.”
Jac Heyer, NRC Handelsblad
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Acme Gallery, London 1981
produced by Stichting Mickery Workshop, Amsterdam 1982
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”The piece was visceral and bawdy, crowded with strange, unexpected incidents. The setting is a hotel or boarding house under threat of destruction from a volcano. Though the volcano is mentioned in the notes to the piece we are not aware of its presence in any direct way during the performance. What we are aware of is some outside force disrupting and possessing the residents.
Under this enforced isolation communication and sociability breaks down. Jealousies erupt, passions are inflamed. People squeal and scream, retch and shout orders, lay on the floor, perform disoriented, repetitive actions. Gestures were never followed through to their natural conclusion: punches were thrown but always pulled, a drink was passed on rather than drunk. Dream and allegory, Natural Disasters explored the worlds of dementia and impotence, showing us what happens when a group of people are placed together in a situation of stress.
One could be forgiven for thinking that this siege drama was an arty downbeat version of The Towering Inferno or a surrealist guide to Civil Defence - in the event of a nuclear attack count to ten and flap your arms. But humour (and it was very funny, a very black kind of humour) was always subordinate to the rigorous structure of the work.”
John Roberts, Artscribe
