CHRIS THORPE’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SHOW TOURS THE UK THIS SPRING
Confirmation
Newcastle Northern Stage
23rd March – 24th March
With an election looming, and new voices appearing
in main stream UK
politics, Chris Thorpe and The TEAM
Artistic Director Rachel Chavkin examine the phenomenon of confirmation bias and
attempt to have an honourable dialogue, real and imagined, with political
extremism.
If you pinned me against a wall, I’d probably admit
to being a liberal. Of course, pinning me against a wall is exactly what I’d
expect from someone like you. A show about the gulfs we can’t talk across, and
about the way we choose to see only the evidence that proves we’re right. A
multi-award winning creative team explore the phenomenon of ‘confirmation
bias’, examining and questioning the rise of extremist thinking within the UK’s political landscape
and exploring the strength and grounding of people’s beliefs. Originating from
Chris Thorpe’s own frustration with the current level of political discourse in
the UK,
and his own ‘liberal’ bias, the work has been developed the rough academic
research and through conversations with political extremism, in an attempt to
open discussion on the subject in a more objective environment.
‘Rachel
Chavkin’s fast-moving, kinetic production offers us an absolutely compelling performance
from a man who is fast becoming one of the most powerful performers in the UK’
The Scotsman ★★★★
Chris Thorpe has been at the helm of some of the
most critically acclaimed productions in recent years, from the Fringe First
winning The Oh F**k Moment (2011) to What I Heard About The World(2012), the
Total Theatre Award and Arches Brick Award winning #TORYCORE (2012), There Has
Possibly Been an Incident (2013), and I Wish I Was Lonely (2013) at Forest Fringe.
Chris was a founder member of Unlimited Theatre and
still works and tours with the company.He is also an Artistic Associate of live
art/theatre company Third Angel as well as working closely with, among others,
Forest Fringe, Slung Low, Chris Goode, RashDash, Belarus Free Theatre and
Portuguese company mala voadora. As a playwright, Chris has written radio and
stage dramas, as well as translating the work of Ugljesa Sajtinac, Belarus Free Theatre,
and Ze Maria Mendes.
Rachel Chavkin is the Artistic Director of the
multi-award winning The TEAM,
a New York City-based theatre company dedicated to dissecting and celebrating
the experience of living in America today. Their
work includes: Give Up! Start Over! (In the darkest of times I look to Richard
Nixon for hope) (2005), A Thousand Natural Shocks (2005), Particularly in the
Heartland (2006), and Architecting, a co-production with the National Theatre
of Scotland, in 2008. The TEAM
are four-time winners of the Scotsman Fringe First Award (2005, 2006, 2008,
& 2011), Winner of the 2011 Herald Angel, the 2011 Edinburgh International
Festival Fringe Prize, Best Production Dublin Fringe 2007 and 2008 Edinburgh Total
Theatre Award. Their critically acclaimed Mission Drift transferred from the
Traverse to the National Theatre in Summer 2013.
Writer / performer Chris Thorpe said about developing the show: “I guess I've always been fascinated by conviction,
because it seems mysterious to me. Not that I don't have deeply-held beliefs – I
do – but because those beliefs weren't necessarily specific, burning certainties. They were more beliefs about the application
of concepts. That there must be some reasonableness in every point of view,
however small. That there's a time and a place for a fair hearing, foreveryone.
Because underneath it all, the surface conflicts and the differing
interpretations of 'facts' there had to be some
kind of truth. So I decided to investigate how the processes that allow us to
form a worldview are thought to work. And these processes are double edged – the
information gathering and filtering that makes daily life possible, applied on
a larger scale, contain this huge potential for destruction. I decided to talk
to someone of conviction. To see if it was possible to have a conscious conversation
about those unconscious processes. A respect full conversation. To listen to those voices, and my voice, to
see if we could get beyond the conviction. Maybe make my own liberalism less
lazy. To see what that might do to me.”
On
The Web:
Website: http://chinaplatetheatre.com
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/103696419
Tickets:
Warwick
Arts Centre and China Plate presents
CONFIRMATION
23rd
March – 24th March, 7.30pm Newcastle Northern Stage
Written by Chris Thorpe
Developed with and Directed by Rachel Chavkin
FRINGE FIRST AWARD WINNER, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Commissioned by Northern Stage and Battersea Arts
Centre
Running
time:
80 minsPost-show discussion: Mon 23 Mar
Recommended: 14+
Tickets: £14.50 / £12 concs
Box
Office: 0191 230 5151
Tour Dates:
17th March , 8pm Exeter Phoenix 01392
667080 www.exeterphoenix.org.uk
18th March, Colchester Arts Centre 01206 500900 www.colchesterartscentre.com
27th March, 8pm Jersey Arts Centre 01534 700444 www.artscentre.je
7th April – 18th April, 8pm Battersea Arts Centre 020
7223 2223 www.bac.org.uk
20th April – 23rd April, 7.30pm The Arches, Glasgow
22nd May
– 24th May Mayfest www.mayfestbristol.co.uk
26th May
–
30th May 2015,
7.30pm Manchester Royal Exchange
0161 833 9833 www.royalexchange.co.uk
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