A Certain Sense of Order

Produced by Tick Tock

 

8:15pm – 9:05pm | Friday 11 August 2017

RADA Club Theatre, 16 Chenies Street, London, WC1E 7EX

 

Early Bird Tickets (Until 19th June): £5

Advance Online: £7.50 | Door/Phone: £9.50

 

A “striking and intriguing” (Planet Hugill) portrait of the American poet Anne Sexton, known for integrating her deeply confessional poetry with the practice of psychotherapy, A Certain Sense of Order is an exquisite poetic investigation in voice, gesture and sound.

 

A Certain Sense of Order from Tête à Tête #2 on Vimeo.

 

 

A Certain Sense of Order

Music | Catherine Kontz

Words | Anne Sexton

Director (Creative) | Sasha Amaya

Director (Concept) | Naomi Woo

 

Featuring Rebecca Cuddy & Rosie Middleton

 

Reviews & Features

Planet Hugill

 

www.tt-tt-tt.com

 

Music: Catherine Kontz Words: Anne Sexton

 

Director (Creative): Sasha Amaya

Director (Concept): Naomi Woo

 

Featuring: Rosie Middleton and Rebecca Cuddy

 

–  –  –  –  –

 

Also on Friday 11 August 2017…

 

10:00am – 11:00am : The Good Night Opera

11:30am – 12:00pm : The Good Night Opera

7:00pm – 7:30pm : The Albatross

7:05pm – 7:30pm : Tell One, Forget One

7:50pm – 8:50pm : The Winter’s Tale

9:10pm – 9:50pm : ‘i’ – The Opera

Listen Now: Road Memoir: The Podcast Opera

 

ticktock 

 

Music: Catherine Kontz Words: Anne Sexton

 

Director (Creative): Sasha Amaya

Director (Concept): Naomi Woo

 

Featuring: Rosie Middleton and Rebecca Cuddy

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Sexton: I think the tapes are very . . . I listen to them and it’s a different thing. In the first place I really hear you. Then again I hear me too, as much as I can bear to. Oh, I keep looking for some magical thing. If there was just some…. 

A Certain Sense of Order began with an email: Sasha and Naomi, two fans of Catherine’s eclectic compositional style, wondered if she might be interested in a collaboration. After meeting for coffee at Tate Modern, the three of us eventually settled on exploring the work of poet Anne Sexton. We were particularly interested in investigating her engagement with psychotherapy, which played a large role in her poetic practice, but instead of focusing on biography – an aspect to which female art-makers are so often reduced – we chose to explore these themes and others through the lens of a single poem. We developed the piece and presented it as a work-in-progress at Rough for Opera, hosted by Second Movement and Tête à Tête.

In preparation for the project, we discovered and were inspired by Dawn Skorczewski ‘s An Accident of Hope, which explores the relationship between therapy and poetry in Sexton’s work, as well as other scholarly texts on related subjects. As such, we are excited to include a short academic discussion as part of the performance, which we hope will provide context for the piece, and offer a reading of the poem itself, through and against which viewers might

our musical reading, as well as create their own.

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ticktock (Sasha Amaya and Naomi Woo) focuses on sonic and choreographic performance to produce, interpret, and devise works of opera, dance, and physical theatre. Sasha Amaya is a director focused on choreography, music, and installation art. Naomi Woo is a pianist, conductor, and musicologist who specialises in the study and performance of contemporary

music. www.tt-tt-tt.om

 

Catherine Kontz studied Composition at Goldsmiths College and, as part of her PhD,produced and directed a large-scale mime-opera. Recent performances/ commissions include Die Regenmacher for ensemble recherche (Philharmonie Luxembourg), Fruitmarket for BBCSSO ( Ilan Volkov/Tectonics Festival, Glasgow) and the 75 minute opera Neige (Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg).

 

Amaya Sasha is a multidisciplinary artist focused on contemporary dance, direction, and installation. Her work has shown on stage, in galleries, on videos, and as opera throughout Europe and North America. Amaya is particularly interested in experimenting with different modes of generating movement to create movement-based pieces with dancers, musicians, actors, and athletes. www.sasha-amaya.com

 

Naomi Woo is a PhD student in musicology, and a performer equally at home on the harpsichord, the prepared piano, and the podium. She studied mathematics and philosophy at Yale College, piano at the Yale School of Music and Université de Montréal, and musicology at Cambridge. www.naomiwoo.com

 

Rosie Middleton, a mezzo-soprano, trained at the RNCM. Rosie has a passion for contemporary music, performing new works both at home and abroad. Earlier this year she workshopped the new opera The Echo Chamber with Icelandic Opera in Reykjavik and will return for the premiere early in 2018. She has just finished playing Mad Hatter and Mum in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with Opera Holland Park.

 

Rebecca Cuddy is a Métis (Indigenous) Canadian mezzo soprano and a versatile performer, at home on both the contemporary and classical stage. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, she is currently enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, completing a Masters in Vocal Performance with world-renowned Mezzo-Soprano, Sarah Walker, and Vocal Coach Jonathan Papp.

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