Spill Festival
SPILL Festival of Performance is an artist-led biennale of experimental theatre and live art in the UK which began in 2007 and takes place in a variety of venues in London and Ipswich. The festival is produced by Pacitti Company and the Artistic Director is Robert Pacitti.[1]
Background
Launched in 2007 the SPILL Festival presents new and experimental theatre and performance work from new and established work from UK and international artists.[2]
Robert Pacitti, Artistic Director of Spill says on SPILL 2009:
"This year the festival has been curated around ideas of ‘agency’. What I mean by this is the ability of each of us to make choices. Every work in the programme, in some way or other, may be viewed through this prism. Some raise questions around how we make choices (or indeed value judgements), others reflect thoughts on how our choices may be imposed on the world. With this in mind we may be provoked to consider issues around responsibility – either individually, or as part of a group – which brings into focus notions of free will, permission to act, and human rights. Of course it is not essential to engage with these ideas to enjoy SPILL. But for those who wish to, the festival will be highlighting some shared threads between aspects of the programme, for you turn over and mull at your leisure, as well as spaces for you to share your thoughts with others."[3]
In addition to the biennale Festival SPILL National Platform and Showcase takes place every two years in Ipswich and presents artists in the early stages of their career working in the fields of live art, performance and experimental theatre, selected through an open submission process. [4]
Venues
Spill Festival has previously taken place in a range of venues and spaces across London and Ipswich including:
- The Barbican
- Southbank Centre
- The National Theatre Studio
- Soho Theatre
- Shunt Vaults
- Shoreditch Town Hall
- Greenwich Dance Agency
- Laban
- Soho Square
- Toynbee Studios
Artists Involved
At SPILL Festival 2009 there were approximately 100 live performances by artists from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the USA and from across the UK.
Spill Festival 2009
- Paradiso by Romeo Castellucci, Italy
- Inferno by Romeo Castellucci, Italy
- Dinner With America, Rajni Shah, UK
- That Night follows Day, Victoria & Tim Etchells (Forced Entertainment), Belgium/UK
- A Forest, Pacitti Company, UK
- Purgatorio, By Romeo Castellucci, Italy
- Saving the World, Gob Squad, Germany/UK
- Visions of Excess, Ron Athey & Lee Adams, USA/UK
- A True Story About Two People, Julie Tolentino, USA
- Listen, My Secret Fetish, Richard Haynes, Australia
- Aftermaths: A Tear in the Meat of Vision, Julia Bardsley, UK
- The Modes of Al-Ikseer, Harminder Singh Judge, UK
- Tears of Eros, Carla Esperanza Tommasini, Italy/UK
- The Porcelain Project, Grace Ellen Barkey and Needcompany, Belgium
- 'Look mummy, I’m dancing, Vanessa, Belgium
- Kim Noble Will Die, Kim Noble, UK
- Orgy of Tolerance, Jan Fabre, Belgium
- Prototypes, Robin Deacon, UK
- Void Story, Forced Entertainment, UK
- Intermission, Pacitti Company, UK
- I Feel Love!, George Chakravarthi, UK
SPILL Salons
Spill Salons are a public space which bring groups of people together along with a ‘Thinker-in-Residence’ to look at some of the over-riding themes within the Festival. The public salons are where experts from a range of different territories will discuss relevant issues affecting performance.
References
External links
- SPILL Festival 2007
- SPILL Festival 2009
- SPILL Overspill
- Guardian - Article by Lyn Gardner on SPILL 2009