Acrobatics, an airplane and the advancement of the women’s movement can all be seen on one stage during the theatrical performance of FLIGHT at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Technology, history and art will converge in a unique and stunning way at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 29 in Dunham Hall Theater.FLIGHT is presented as part of SIUE XFest and SIUE’s Arts & Issues. The theatrical piece is sponsored by the Cassens Companies of Edwardsville.
“I think it will be thought provoking because of all the issues that will be portrayed, but it will also be entertaining,” said Grant Andree, director of SIUE’s Arts & Issues and assistant director of development in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The performance is set in Paris in 1913 and deals with the pioneering women fliers of the time. The theatrical piece will revolve around the assembly of a three-quarter sized Bleriot XI monoplane on stage. Also part of the show will feature new choreography, a complex sound and music score, and filmmaking.
“We remain interested in creating new work that explores the synchronicity of an artistic work with its historical environment,” according to Robyn Hunt and Steve Pearson, co-founders and directors of Pacific Performance Projects-East, which produces productions that employ a synthesis of the core of Suzuki training, modern dance, slow tempo, circus technique and silent narrative. FLIGHT was created and directed by Pearson and written by Hunt.
“FLIGHT uses a contemporary, integrated artistic approach to treat the first decades of the twentieth century, linking the present with that past to reveal the core relationships of art and society,” Hunt and Pearson noted.
The theater piece offers a colorful interface of past and present and displays the creativity of early aviators, filmmakers, and the first advocates of realistic theatre, according to the Pacific Performance Projects-East cofounders.
“Its thematic threads include early feminism, the confluence of historical fact and artistic fiction,” said Hunt and Pearson, “the theatrical implications of real work on stage, and of course elements of flight: aerial freedom, metaphor, cosmology, and escape.
For tickets and information, visit the SIUE Dunham Hall Arts & Issues Box Office, the SIUE Morris University Center Information Booth, artsandissues.com or call (618) 650-5774. For more information about the performance, visit p3east.com.
The Arts & Issues series brings artistic excellence to the SIUE campus through an eclectic blend of speakers and performers. For more than 28 years, SIUE’s Arts & Issues series has showcased some of the world’s finest artists. Each season, thought-provoking speakers inspire people of all ages and backgrounds. Thanks to the underwriting of SIUE, corporations, foundations and individual donors, tickets are often discounted by as much as 75 percent.
Arts & Issues is tied to the academic mission of the University and offers unique opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and the community, to engage with performers and speakers through master classes and special sessions.
Photo Information: Steve Pearson and Robyn Hunt