"A Wonderfully Inventive performance"

Two more reviews from A Younger Theatre here. You can read their thoughts on Like You Were Before here and I Guess If The Stage Exploded... here!

Systematically Trained to Remember

I Guess if the Stage Exploded... aims to explore and interlink ideas on memory, presence and the mechanics of performance, whilst trying to understand our urge to be special and remembered. Performance maker Sylvia Rimat follows the aspirational and possibly impossible goal to create a show never to be forgotten by its audience members – not a single one. By introducing memory tasks and techniques and applying them to the stage situation, the audience is systematically trained to remember – hopefully forever.

The show draws on memory techniques taken from popular science books and on models of remembering, borrowed from several disciplines. In the development process, Sylvia met up with a scientist from Bristol Neuroscience to find out about brain processes involved in the creation of memories, with a lecturer from the Experimental Psychology Department at University of Bristol to investigate characteristics of collective memories, with a hypnotherapist to find out whether anything will ever be forgotten and with a researcher from the Centre for Death and Society at University of Bath to understand our urge to be remembered. Excerpts from these conversations accompany the performance.

To support the overall aim of making the performance unforgettable, live feeds are set up to co-performers who wait at remote places, countries and continents (such as an old derelict airport field in Berlin/ Germany and a kitchen in Sydney/ Australia) and do their best to fire on the show.

Meet the Mayfest Crew: Chris Swain

What is your job at Mayfest?
Production Manager


Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year's Mayfest?
I Guess If The Stage Exploded... - A performance that is IMPOSSIBLE to forget sounds like a challenge. I'm excited to see how it is tackled.
The Ice Book - Gorgeous looking mini-show, part pop-up book, part film, part live performance.
Save Me - Where would a festival be without a semaphore soap opera?

I love Mayfest because…
It brings performers and companies to Bristol that are experimental, daring and exciting. And you get to dive in for two weeks and experience the true festival vibe of seeing loads of great stuff packed into a short space of time.

Sum up Mayfest in 3 shiny words.
Festival in May?  Hectic Theatrical Bonanza!

I Guess If the Stage Exploded…

Sylvia Rimat
7pm, Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th May 2011 @ Arnolfini

Bristol-based performance maker Sylvia Rimat takes as her starting point the aspirational and possibly impossible goal of creating a show which will never be forgotten by its audience members – not a single one.

I Guess If The Stage Exploded…draws on presence and sight, and on our urge to be special and forever commemorated. Sylvia Rimat makes performance which is strangely disquieting, witty and moving. Will you remember this always? There’s only one way to find out…