The Good, the God and the Guillotine (2013)

.

Performer Leentje Van de Cruys wearing a grey dress, stood at a microphone (The Good, the God, and the Guillotine).

A show that steals its style from the gig, the opera and the recital, The Good, the God and the Guillotine is a music-driven piece of theatre like no other.

A long walk, the beach. A fight, a murder. The heat, and the barking of dogs. We’re travelling out of the sun and towards darkness.


Three performers and three laptop musicians create an atmospheric, cross-genre journey through a tangle of relationships and technologies, all set against reactive objects, lights and hand-drawn animations.


Proto-type Theater, collaborating with the digital musician-composers of MMUle, lighting designer Rebecca M. K. Makus, and animator Adam York Gregory, present a performance sung and spoken across thirteen distinct chapters.


The Good, the God and the Guillotine is a personal answer to the universal question, and was inspired by a reading of Albert Camus’ powerful 1942 novel The Stranger. 

Two performers wearing square masks made of lights, sing into microphones. In the distance behind are three men with digital music equipment. (The Good, the God, and the Guillotine).

Credits

Proto-type Theater’s
The Good, the God and the Guillotine

Directed by Andrew Westerside
Concept and text by Peter S. Petralia
Performed and devised by Leentje van de Cruys, Gillian Lees and Andrew Westerside
With MMUle (Martin Blain, Nick Donovan, Jonas Hummel and Paul J. Rogers)

Original music composed by MMUle
Lighting design by Rebecca M. K. Makus
Animation by Adam York Gregory
Dramaturgy by Rachel Baynton and Jane Turner
Production Manager David McBride

The Good, the God and the Guillotine was commissioned by Lincoln Performing Arts Centre (Lincoln), Manchester Metropolitan University (Crewe) and Tramway (Glasgow). Supported by Live at LICA and the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The Good, the God and the Guillotine premiered at Lincoln Performing Arts Centre on October 25th 2013 followed by a 2014 UK tour including performances at Live at LICA , Contact, Manchester (Presented by Contact and Word of Warning), Axis Arts Centre & Nottingham Playhouse.


Press

“A multimedia event unlike any I have seen before.”

– Margaret Manning, the Good Review

“Ironic that a production in which loss of faith is a theme should renew your faith in what can be achieved in the theatre.”

 Dave Cunningham, The Public Review

If Aphex Twin and GTA 5 had a baby it would be this show.”

– Audience response

Resources

Postcard sets featuring Adam York Gregory’s stunning designs for the animation and the original promo art are available here.

Writing about the piece can be found here.

Press and comments are available here.

proto-type