One man tries and fails to do impressions of 44,000 animals on the extinct & endangered species list.
An intimate, outdoor work about species and our relationships to them offers audiences a playful, poignant space to meditate and explore the current mass extinction that’s happening. By the Herald Angel Award-winning company Mechanimal, written and performed by Tom Bailey, the show blends projection, physical theatre, a mock VR experience and clowning to introduce audiences into a bonkers big world of currently extinct and endangered species, as one man attempts heroically and fails epically to do the impressions of 44,000 animals on the extinct and endangered species IUCN Red List.
Ahead of its GDIF performances, Tom Bailey has been walking from Scotland to Denmark to perform the show at Passage Festival. With all his gear and a fabric artwork that lists the 44,000 extinct and endangered species, the two month-long journey is over 1600km by foot and ferry, and has been made in response to the challenges of sustainable touring. The blog of his experience can be found here: journeyofalosthuntergatherer.wordpress.com/
Tom Bailey said, “When the company made Vigil just before the pandemic, the list of extinct and endangered species was 26,000 long. Following the pandemic it leapt to 44,000 long. I wanted to make a show that responded to this sad fact. The need to explore the mad and beautiful biodiversity that’s vanishing on this planet feels even stronger now. Equally, I feel that climate change heralds a massive shift in the way that we make and tour creative work in the Anthropocene. This journey looks to ask some of those questions. One of the things I’m looking to explore is - what happens if the touring of human artwork can take inspiration and learning from the way that nature travels - for instance, migration pathways of other species?”
Listings
Crap at Animals: Sat 31 Aug & Sun 1 Sept, 1pm & 5.30pm FREE
BSL Interpreted 31 Aug 1pm and 5.30pm Duration: 45 minutes
Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, Well Hall Pleasance, Eltham, SE9 6SZ
Further Information: Crap at Animals