Dinner with America - Colchester Arts Centre

rajni — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:12:34 +0000

Dinner with America - Colchester Arts Centre rajni Wed, 25 Nov 2009, 11:12am

Dinner with America

rajni — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:03:17 +0000

Dinner with America

2007

2009

rajni Sat, 21 Nov 2009, 11:03pm

performances

Dinner with America

What is this America that does not stay in its place- geographical, mental, emotional or political? Why this romance, this journeying, this innocent starvation? Why loneliness, violence, injustice, and eradication? This enormous, forgetful, clumsy lump of land...

Dinner with America is the second in a trilogy of performances addressing the complexities of cultural identity in the 21st century. Where the first piece in the trilogy, Mr Quiver, explored and problematised Indian and English stereotypes, this piece pushes our thinking about what ‘America’ means to us. As the performance space shifts and transforms, it gently uncovers sub-themes of consumerism, rights, ownership, voices, hopes, harvest and division in a visually compelling and unusual piece of work. Click here to purchase the accompanying booklet Dinner with America: essays, films, images and conversations.

I’m fascinated by the notion that in this day and age everyone carries a small piece of ‘America’ inside them, a tiny concept or visual reference, often involuntary. And I’m at once repulsed and delighted at just how easily I feel connected with those ideas, which are often linked to capitalist ideals, of freedom, saturation, desire, individuality. So this is a piece about the ideas and images that we call ‘American’ and, for me, about a complicated personal attachment to both the land and ideas of the United States.

– Rajni Shah

The piece was made and performed in collaboration with costume designer Lucille Acevedo-Jones and film and video artist Lucy Cash, with original lighting design by Cis O’Boyle and technical operation by Steve Wald.

Soundtrack features: interviews with Alice Lovelace, Bailey Barash, Ben Bryson, Bradley Kimball, Carrie Elzey, Chip Epsten, Deshantell Singleton, Eleanor Brownfield, Grady Harris, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Imani Davis, James Gough, Jan Smith, Jean-Marie Mauclet, Jeff Mather, Jerry Cullum, Katy Malone, Lily Trapkin, Linda Norton, Lucille Schmidt, Madison Trapkin, Nicholas B. Schmidt, Philip Trapkin, Priscilla Smith, Ruth Laxson, Samuel Thompson, Stevens and Ronnog Seaberg, Tia Davis, Tim Habeger, Toby Schmidt and Zion Davis. A specially commissioned work by The Mountain Goats.

A sense of ritual, redolent of a religious rite, permeated Dinner with America. It seemed a meditation not merely on American people or culture, but on America itself as an animate being: vast, perplexing and potentially intangible. Entering the performance space I was struck by the hushed concentration of the onlookers who picked their way through channels of powdery soil which criss-crossed the floor, or crouched in darkened corners to survey the scene. It appeared we were all implicated in this rite – a calling up of stories, ideals and images that we each could muse upon as we wished.

- extract from Summoned to Table: Rajni Shah’s Dinner with America by Mary Kate Connolly

Touring

The finished version of Dinner with America toured during 2008-2009 alongside give what you can, take what you need to the following venues:

Colchester Arts Centre (2009)
Wunderbar festival, Newcastle (2009) - watch video here
Laban Centre, London (2009)
Phoenix, Exeter (2009)
SPILL festival, London (2009)
Laboral Cultural Centre, Gijon, Spain - part of the S.P.A.C.E. British Council showcase (2009)
Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster (2008)

Previews and in-progress performances:
The Bluecoat, Liverpool (2008)
Pinter Studio, Queen Mary, University of London (2008)
The Basement, Brighton (2008)
The Showroom, University of Chichester (2007)
Pine Gallery, Coastal Currents, Hastings (2007)

Related materials

Read more and purchase the booklet and DVD Dinner with America: essays, films, images and conversations here.

Articles about Dinner with America were published in Summer 2008 in Total Theatre and Dance Theatre Journal and in Spring 2009 at Spill Overspill, in Real Time magazine, and at Poptronics (french).

Artist Chris Goode's full interview with Rajni about the background and making of Dinner with America is available to read here.

Commissioned by Coastal Currents and Fresh, funded by Arts Council England
with support from The Basement, Goldsmiths College, Queen Mary, University of London, University of Chichester and the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster.

Dinner with America is dedicated to the memory of fellow artist and friend Ronnog Seaberg

Dinner with America - Wunderbar Festival, Newcastle

rajni — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:17:24 +0000

Dinner with America - Wunderbar Festival, Newcastle rajni Wed, 11 Nov 2009, 11:17am

Dinner with America - Exeter Phoenix

rajni — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:15:19 +0000

Dinner with America - Exeter Phoenix rajni Tue, 27 Oct 2009, 11:15am

Dinner with America (filmed) - Bonnie Bird Theatre, Laban, London

rajni — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:58:05 +0000

Dinner with America (filmed) - Bonnie Bird Theatre, Laban, London rajni Mon, 21 Sep 2009, 5:58pm

Dinner with America - SPILL Festival, London

rajni — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:22:39 +0000

Dinner with America - SPILL Festival, London rajni Mon, 6 Apr 2009, 12:22pm

Dinner with America - Gijon, Spain

rajni — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:24:12 +0000

Dinner with America - Gijon, Spain rajni Sat, 7 Mar 2009, 11:24am

Dinner with America - Lancaster

rajni — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:29:37 +0000

Dinner with America - Lancaster rajni Sat, 29 Nov 2008, 11:29am

Dinner with America - Bluecoat, Liverpool

rajni — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:43:54 +0000

Dinner with America - Bluecoat, Liverpool rajni Sun, 6 Apr 2008, 12:43pm

Dinner with America (preview) - London

rajni — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:55:40 +0000

Dinner with America (preview) - London rajni Sat, 29 Mar 2008, 11:55am