Festival Escena Contemporanea, Charmartin Railway Station, Madrid
6 – 11 February, 2006
Madrid
This was our first attempt at a medium scale version of the show and it proved very satisfying. The large amount of rice gave us the freedom to tackle very large statistics and compare the populations of whole countries without having to take on the vast logistical and physical challenges of a world version.
Disappointingly, despite being located at a major railway station, the show only attracted small audience numbers, causing us to re-think how we help promoters market the show and what advice we give about suitable venues. Unfortunately the promoter had been thwarted late on by red tape in his attempt to host us in a city centre underground station, which would have been fantastic, instead we were upstairs at a railway station.
For the first time we used paella rather than Long Grain rice (the grains appear to weigh the same), which was delivered in twelve, one ton sacks. Much of the get-in was spent decanting these big bags into smaller 20kg bags, a process made swifter than we had feared by the use of some high-end industrial digital scales.
Highlight for this gig was the ongoing challenge of trying to see the world from a Southern European perspective and using a lot of our South American statistics for the first time.
Credits
Performers: Heather Burton, Amanda Hadingue, Charlotte Goodwin, Jake Oldershaw
With: Pau Cholera, Acier Muniz, Izabel Romera
Production Manager: Karen Stafford
Image: Karen Stafford
Concept & Initial Direction: James Yarker
General Manager: Charlotte Martin
Advisory Producer: Nick Sweeting
Thank you for helping us understand our world.
Ori
We were enchanted. It forces you to reflect.
Audience Member
So simple, so exemplary and original.
Daniel