New writing and fresh choreography go hand-in-hand over three evenings of thought-provoking entertainment. Each curated combination offers a unique opportunity for audiences to reflect on a central theme, feeling or style through both drama and movement.
Showcasing critically-acclaimed theatre and emergent Northern artists, Pairs will bring cutting-edge performances to Huddersfield audiences.
Gypsy Queen / L’uomo (Tue 19th February)
The two performances spark a dialogue about what it means to be masculine. Rob Ward’s short play, Gypsy Queen, was a hit at Edinburgh Fringe last year. The boxing-ring love story asks questions about LGBTQ+ visibility in professional sport and the intersection of faith, sexuality, and gender.
These ideas will be responded to in dance by L’uomo (The Man), a work of choreography centred on hand gestures and touch by Anthony Lo-Guidice.
Passionate Machine / Eleutheromania (Tuesday 26th March)
Contrasting in subject but complimentary in style, this pairing explores the desire for control and the threat of chaos. Rosie Carrick won the Brighton Fringe Award in 2018 for Passionate Machine, a playful time-travel drama that asks us what happens when our plans for the future meddle in the present. Moving from the abstract to lived reality, Eleutheromania is a work of contorted and flinching dance by Alice Henry imitating the rituals and thoughts of OCD sufferers.
How To Be Amazingly Happy! / Fawn (Tuesday 21st May)
Victoria Firth and Lizzie Klotz navigate balancing external expectations with personal happiness. How To Be Amazingly Happy! plots, through honest confession and physical comedy, Firth’s quest to reconfigure her vision of fulfilment. In Fawn, Lizzie Klotz plays with the body language of pleasing. Klotz uses body, stage, and audience to battle between the desire to accommodate others and the need to serve oneself.
Outgoing Director Victoria Firth has said: “After the success of last year’s A Festival, we’re bringing the celebrations back in March. But we can’t contain the joy of diverse performance to just one week – which is why I’m excited to introduce Pairs! This is an original project for the Lawrence Batley Theatre that I hope will bring audiences
fresh perspectives and a unique theatre experience, as well as supporting new writing and choreography.”
Full details and tickets can be found at thelbt.org.
