A Theatre of Gesture

A Theatre of Gesture is a performance presented at La Fermeture Éclair theatre, Caen, France. 2017.

In the theatre performance, the theatricality of the gesture is amplified on stage as gestures segue into movements that both interrupt and propel the progression of dramatic actions. The actors produce a cacophony of gestural quotations from powerful characters on the international political stage. During each act, the archive becomes a series of live gestures that explore their relationship with pure mime, not just imitation but adapting rhythm and pace, presenting the interior meaning of movements to the audience. Repetition of embodied gestures from life opens up a sort of prose of actions, comprised of gestures made with the hands to emphasise this physical counterpoint to the orator’s rhetoric, whether on stage, in the pulpit or court of law.