Vigil Archives - North West End UK

17Feb

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Vigil – Traverse Theatre 2

Dashing about the flat before heading out, Radio 4’s News Quiz opened with Andy Zaltzman’s tongue-in-cheek introduction announcing the relegation of the human race from the top 1,000 species on the planet. Putting everyone right in touch with the 26,000 endangered species the creator & performer from Mechanimal (Tom Bailey) attempts to dignify via a combination of mime, clowning and some sparse dialogue… Centre stage sits a small glass cube full of assorted skulls and bones, above it a screen carrying the words ‘Colombian Lightbulb Lizard’. Which has everyone chuckling as they take their seats but wait, it’s actually a thing. In Columbia, to boot. AKA ‘Riama Columbiana’. Like a resource dedicated to aspiring bands searching for a name, a cornucopia of Peel-esque nomenclature unspool...

Vigil – Physical Fest

Mechanimal’s Vigil, created and performed by Tom Bailey, with movement direction by Philippa Hambly, is a desperate and poignant illustration of the devastating effects of climate change on animal and plant life endangered as a result of both that and other environmental concerns. Opening in a small wooded area, Bailey walks around with a glass box which he slowly fills with twigs from the ground, some of which are too big to fit into the small confines of the box, indicating from the start that what we are going to see will feel overwhelming in many ways. Moving into a plain room with a white screen, Bailey sits on his box, seemingly full of foliage, when the names of plants and animals on the red list, those at highest risk of extinction begin flashing up on the screen. Bailey watc...

Vigil – Mechanimal and Pound Arts

Vigil is a poignant one-man show that urges you to consider the impact of humanity on the world around us. Created by Bristol-based devised theatre company Mechanimal and presented in a new ‘online’ version with the support of The Pound Arts Centre in Wiltshire, Vigil blends physical theatre, projection, sounds and poetry to create a unique, deeply reflective journey focused on the devastating relationship between humans and nature. The original stage piece was supported by Bristol Old Vic Ferment, University College London, Arts Council England and Pound Arts, but was unable to tour in 2020 due to the pandemic. The show has the performer, played by Tom Bailey, encounter twenty-six thousand species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s ‘Red List’ within the space of ...