Luxuriant: within the reign of anticipation is another part of the Operation Infinity project, which Vincenzi has been developing since 2007. The show is set in a place reminding both a film studio and a plain warehouse. Amongst dirty clothes, torn banknotes and litter bags, the group Troupe Mabuse attempts a reconstruction of a film hit from 1930s Gold Diggers (referred to also in the song We’re In The Money). The film was made during the Great Depression and alluded to it on a number of occasions - it begins with a show rehearsal which is disrupted by producers due to unpaid bills. The show portrays the process of appropriating the past. Relationship turns out to mean the lack of it, an attempt to remember - losing memory. The artist stretches to the limits of possibility the idea of entertaining theatre, which is to be a remedy for despair, crisis and fear. Sudden occurrences and actors’ body movements go beyond the initial pattern, putting to test various levels of reality and fiction of the theatrical event. The audience is brought into space without clear cut boundaries, dangerous and uncertain, in which surfeit becomes the standard of perception.
SIMON VINCENZI is an English director, choreographer and designer, called by “Time Out” in 2008 “theatre visionary”. In 1996-2007, he worked in the duet Bock & Vincenzi. At present he works solo. He is predominantly interested in the themes of memory and oblivion, consciousness and losing oneself, which he explores through body put on display and undergoing disintegration processes. In his works - theatre and dance shows, installations and films - he investigates the limits of theatricality, invoking alternately the feelings of defiance, admiration and surprise in the audience. Simon Vincenzi also designs costumes for other creators and institutions, including English National Opera, Nottingham Playhouse, the ICA, the National Theatre, Rose English, Featherstonehaughs. His designs received the following awards: “Time Out/01”, Munich Biennale, the Arts Foundation and Laurence Olivier Awards.
made by: Simon Vincenzi, Troupe Mabuse
production: Artsadmin
supported by: the National Lottery through Arts Council England
première: 18.032010