Outdoor Arts Installation
Animation above created by Colin Purves
Ghost
A Play without Players
A Voice Within or just ahead, out of reach
A breath. A step.
Unseen but all around
Empty rooms littered with memories, intriguing echoes, past events and lives
A poetic thriller
A gripping drama set in a mythical, futuristic landscape. Arrive at the start point, slip on your headphones and enter the unsettling world of ‘The Maker’.
Inspired by the Daedalus myth, Ghost takes you on a journey littered with intriguing echoes of lives and events, through a landscape which is at once familiar and hauntingly strange. As you explore the labyrinth of streets around Leith’s atmospheric Shore area, the mystery gradually unfolds around you as it builds inexorably to its thrilling denouement. What you discover may not be what you expect…..
“I have always wanted the opportunity to connect story, object and architecture. Working with this exceptional team, we have been able to layer soundscape, sculpture, drama and landscape into a geographic maze. You must try to solve the puzzle of the maker and follow the thread of his life to reveal his true identity.”
Symon Macintyre, Artistic Director
Written by award-winning playwright Judith Adams and directed by 2002 Creative Scotland Award-short listed Symon Macintyre, Ghost is a darkly beautiful tale, told through a blend of narration, music, three-dimensional soundscape and installation art.
Director Symon Macintyre comments, “There are no excuses, don’t miss this. You will be in a world within a world. For 60 minutes nothing that you see or do will be normal.”
Ghost is a haunting piece of promenade theatre set in a mythical landscape where the audience member walks alone following a marked route and enters the unsettling world of ‘The Maker’. The performance is told through a blend of narration, music and three-dimensional soundscape.
A project directed at communities, Ghost will distort your surroundings into something hauntingly unrecognisable.
“…The result is a delicious sensory overload of future gothic, made all the stranger by its taking place during daylight hours. Brought brilliantly and edgily to life by actor Sandy Grierson’s earnest lilt ..”
The Herald, Neil Cooper
“Ghost is essentially a 45-minute dramatic poem by Judith Adams, with an exquisite blended soundtrack created by musician Conrad Ivitsky Molleson and sound designer Henrik Ekeus….“The experience is strange but beautifully and moving, and not to be missed”
The Scotsman, Joyce MacMillan
“I have been thinking about it ever since.”
The Observer, Ruaridh Nicholl
“A sudden moment of perfect beauty emerges, followed by one of paranoia”
The Financial Times, Ian Shuttleworth
“Judith Adams’ script is as dense as thick, black treacle but has the lightest of touches.”
Pick of the day: The Guardian, Lyn Gardner
“Director Symon Macintyre’s production is beautifully realised.”
The Daily Telegraph, Mark Brown
“An interesting mix of story, installation, hypnosis and walking tour”
Three Weeks
Producer/Director: Symon Macintyre
Symon Macintyre is a producer and director with a reputation for innovative dramatic work, often striving to challenge the conceived limits of “puppetry”, as a hybrid dramatic form. His recent projects have been typically wide-ranging, including the acclaimed puppet-drama, EH6, and Channel 5’s children’s show, Woolamaloo. Having recently returned from a seven month research tour, performing and meeting with puppeteers throughout Asia, Australia and North America, Symon is bursting with even more inspiration and more contagious enthusiasm than ever.
Writer: Judith Adams
Judith is an accomplished and experienced playwright, having written numerous dramas for radio and theatre. Her most recent projects have included highly acclaimed adaptations of George Eliot’s Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss for Radio 4. Her adaptation of The Bridge Of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder was Nominated for a 2003 Sony Award.
Musician/Composer: Conrad Ivitsky-Molleson
Conrad is an exceptional multi-instrumentalist and composer with a broad experience of working with a variety of mixed media. He has an established reputation as a bass player, having worked with some of the greatest folk and jazz musicians of our time. Having recently completed a Masters degree in Music, he is currently engaged in a number of film, animation and theatre projects, with one in particular coming to haunt you very soon….
Sound Engineer: Henrik Ekeus
As well as being a software engineer, Henrik is an extremely accomplished musician in his own right. This rare combination of skills has repeatedly led him to challenge the boundaries between art and technology. His past works include an interactive multimedia installation, which, using UV lights and motion tracking cameras, allowed the movements of the visitors to control and morph the video and audio elements. He currently works as a researcher and teaching assistant at the University of Edinburgh.
VOICE ARTISTS:
Child, TALOS – Deborah Arnott
Maker – Sandy Grierson
HYPNOTHERAPY CONSULTANT: Sheila Ross
MUSICIANS:
Conrad Ivitsky – Various strings and keys
Henrik Ekeus – Sound deviations
Andrew Johnston – Piano
Vicky Jones – Violin
Emma Smith – Double Bass
Mairi Campbell – Viola and Violin
Kate Molleson – Clarinet
Mikaela Rowan – Voice
Mike Katz – Pipes and whistles
Chris Hall – Cutz and perms
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Jenny Diggins at the Puppet Lab, Colin Purves, Susannah Stevens, Out of the Blue, Edinburgh University Music Dept, Ben Howe, Su-a Lee, Emma Herman-Smith, Joanne Richardson, Yasmin Fedda, Chris Hall, Composers Orchestra, Shiori Usuri & Martin Parker, McArthur brothers for technical and moral support and Banjo supply, Candice Waddell
PHOTOGRAPHY: Susannah Stevens
PUBLICITY DESIGN: Emma Westwater
Ghost is available for festivals and street theatre events. Remixed with a local soundscape it can be tailored for rural or urban locations as a site specific piece of installation theatre.
For More information on this contact us by clicking here.
