THIRD PERSON: Bonnie & Clyde (2010)

A large projection of a face, upside down and lit red. A man lying prone in front. (Third Person).

Moving, unsettling and bitter-sweetly funny, Proto-type’s Third Person: Bonnie & Clyde, investigates the events that unfolded out of the electric meeting of two of history’s most infamous lovers.

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Gillian Lees and Andrew Westerside stood behind a counter, on stage. An image of a blackboard is projected on the wall which reads "3rd Person (redux) *heart*" (Third Person).

As they illustrate, control and sometimes miscommunicate the story, the performers veer between the emotional, the factual and the fantastical as they pick-apart the particulars of this strange love affair. Delivered in the third person through a variety of lo-fi media including video, drawings and overhead projection, Third Person: Bonnie & Clyde creates a fragmented tale of evidence, rumours and the surprising connections between love, life, death and donuts.


Credits

Written and Directed by Peter S Petralia
Performed and Devised by Gillian Lees and Andrew Westerside
Lighting design by David McBride
Music by Duncan Speakman with Violin by Richard Sandford

Third Person: Bonnie & Clyde was developed at Battersea Arts Centre (London) and the Storey Creative Industries Centre Lancaster. Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Third Person: Bonnie & Clyde premiered at Nuffield Theatre Lancaster on 16 February 2010


Press

 “A charming, lyrical attempt to redeem two of history’s most notorious murderers… delivering 60 minutes of Romeo And Juliet with guns and a mounting body count.” 

– Kultureflash

“…has plenty to say about the madness of love, and about the fragility of conventional ideas of law and morality, faced by a stronger force, in a brutal world.”

– The Scotsman

“It’s exciting and visually stimulating, with the attention to detail I have come to expect from Proto-type, and yet is a departure from their more grand work. You really get to know both the performers on stage and the real people that they almost embody.”

– Audience Member

“A captivating piece of presentational theatre. Wes and Gillian create an environment which evokes a feeling of sitting with an old acquaintance and being told a series of uncanny yet fascinating turns of events.”

– Audience Member

Resources

Press and comments are available here.

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