Caitlin Rowley as ‘Noah’ playing the Twigstrument, watched by (l-r) Josh Spear (‘Gwen’), Edward Henderson (‘George’) and Tim Cape (‘India’). Photo by Thor Brødreskift/Borealis
Bastard Assignments
PIGSPIGSPIGS
Experimental music theatre about an English farming family who get affected by strange, dark powers coming from their land... Four performers on a stage: costumes, homemade instruments. No pigs.
For this new work for Borealis, Bastard Assignments reimagine traditional English folk performance, composing their own folk songs, hymns and a Christmas carol. These elements combine with composed music and improvised performance. Pen-lids and cooking pans, copper pipe, hoses and twigs, as well as conventional instruments, create the soundworld of this sinister fable.
The work features Caitlin Rowley’s ‘Twigstrument’, a bowed twig instrument where the sound is processed through a Bela Mini nanocomputer. The Twigstrument is based on Michael Ridge’s ‘Earth Block Instrument’ (adapted with permission), with the inclusion of the Bela Mini rendering the instrument with its effects more portable than Ridge’s original instrument.
Inside the Twigstrument prototype
Bastard Assignments. Photo by Thor Brødreskift/Borealis
‘Gwen’ and ‘George’ waltz to a duet of Twigstrument and Mute Synth 4.0. Photo by Thor Brødreskift/Borealis
Earth block attached to the Twigstrument prototype
Josh Spear and Tim Cape playing found copper pipes. Photo by Thor Brødreskift/Borealis
