On The House

2003/2000, 45 mins

“An extraordinary sense of environment, a total theatrical experience. Unrivalled speed and agility” Venue Magazine, Bristol

Taking place in white box gallery or black box theatre spaces with no conventional seating, ON THE HOUSE exists as a looped video and sound installation, inhabited at specific times by a live performance. A glasshouse sits in the middle of the space, the floor is covered with leaves and the audience sits as close to or far from the action as they wish, moving around the space as the piece unfolds.

Video imagery is projected across the corners of the performance space and onto the floor, creating a playful, rustic environment in which a man and a woman share the space. In a live duet a man and a woman slide, talk, sing, swing, perch and fight – every act visible through the transparent walls of the glass dwelling.

At times where there is no live action, Vincent Dance Theatre’s 35mm short film Glasshouse, a dark and brooding study of a relationship gone wrong loops in the space. ON THE HOUSE uncovers a universe where real, filmed, choreographed and imagined time frames kaleidoscope into one affecting and intimate event.

ON THE HOUSE was originally commissioned in 2000 by Site Gallery (Sheffield) and Arnolfini (Bristol).