 
Three Hungarians
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New English "Theatre of the Senses" - The primitive
science company presents
The Invisible College
It is the explicit conviction of the primitive science company that in
a period where there is a surfeit of productions and never-ending thrills,
the theatre has to reestablish its position as a vital cultural institution.
On August 16th, 2001, the company will be presenting its new production,
The Invisible College, in the Stadtkino in Salzburg.
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| Marc von Henning
and the primitive science theatre company present the premiere of
their new play The Invisible College in the Stadtkino on 16th August,
2001. Photo: Klaus Fröhlich |
David Tushingham, who has been following the company for years, describes its work as follows: "primitive science is a theatre company without a theatre. Its members are Marc von Henning, Boz Temple-Morris, Dick Bird, Susan Grange-Bennett, David Benke and Simon Macer-Wright. They are Londoners.
Though primitive science's shows are almost always created in London, the works themselves betray little sign of these origins. They tell of events in distant, and often extremely isolated landscapes; antique, mythical places, where time moves at a different speed. Worlds where the computer, the television, the telephone have yet to be invented. Worlds sometimes made out of a single element - a room with walls of water, a landscape that's a giant picture frame, a world of paper, a world of tin.
They have described what they do as 'theatre of the senses'. Photos don't really do their productions justice. They don't tell the story about the use of space, the movement of the actors, the sounds of their voices, the words, the music, the silences.
The texts written by director Marc von Henning are short and heightened. Eschewing social commentary, they run counter to the mainstream tradition of English playwriting. There aren't many dialogues between characters. The drama of primitive science's theatre is more likely to take place between diffeent theatrical elements - between word and action, movement and music, light and sound - rather than between two people together on stage. In fact in primitive science's work there rarely is a stage - performers and audience alike share a single common arena. They tell stories. Stories about the desire to do the impossible. Stories of people whose lives are consumed by a single objective. Stories of forgery. Stories of failure. Stories beyond the ordinary. Stories with an epic dimension. Stories you might have heard once before in a different form.
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PRIMITIVE SCIENCE
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The primitive science company is a group of
actors and musicians famous for their innovative and visually breathtaking
performances.
The group is directed by Marc von Henning and Boz Temple-Morris. Von Henning has the following to say about the theatre: "Because theatre can be forgotten, it's much more like life than something you can record, on canvas, celluloid, whatever. You can't record it - or you can only record it on something organic - your brain. The idea is to see yourself as a kind of growth, some kind of tumour that has no chance of survival, but it has a chance to make an impact on the body's circulation, flow, health. |
As theatre companies get older their work develops. Some people will leave. Others join. Those who remain don't stay the same. But what a company has done in the past survives and continues to echo through its later work, even when this is on a different scale and in a different context.
Over the years primitive science have learnt to integrate their work into regular theatre spaces, they have toured shows, they have encountered broader audiences, visited other countries, secured a modest amount of financial support while seeking to retain the things that make them primitive science, which make the 'work' more than just another job.
Their next project is called The Invisible College. What it is is a secret - right now it may even be a secret from themselves.
primitive science are inviting you to join them on a journey into the unknown."
Marc von Henning / primitive science
THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE
in english
In the Stadtkino
Premiere:
16th August, 2001
17th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 26th August, 2001
Starting at 8 p.m.
Tickets
for all performances except 26th August available from
the ticket office (tel: 0662/8045-579) at 400 ATS.