Following the hugely acclaimed project, The Storr: Unfolding Landscape that took place in 2005 on The Isle of Skye, HALF LIFE is a major new landscape work and the first co-production between renowned innovators NVA and the National Theatre of Scotland.
NVA has built an international reputation for monumental art installations animating remote rural settings. For the first time, the interventions will be staged throughout the day and a theatrical performance will take place at night in one of Europe¡¦s most renowned prehistoric regions. HALF LIFE offers a physical and emotive experience which reveals the dark but inspiring mindset of Scotland¡¦s early Neolithic inhabitants. The extraordinarily rich heritage of Mid Argyll
has a remarkable story to tell, through thousands of years of intense marking of living rock formations and the raising and building of henges and burial complexes. It carries the beginnings of a truly cultural landscape, looking out onto the much feared Corryvreckan, the third largest whirlpool in the world.
From 4000BC to 500BC, Kilmartin Glen operated as a unique burial and ceremonial complex. The bodies of the deceased were subjected to protracted and complex manipulation, through generations of special practices, before being finally laid to rest. It is this fascinating dialogue with the dead¡¦ that forms the basis for the work.
HALF LIFE starts by day, when audiences are invited to explore a series of atmospheric sites and installations based around known and rarely seen prehistoric landmarks, over a 150 sq mile area of stunning Highland landscape. The routes follow interpretations of recently recovered archaeological field notes, previously unpublished, which give invaluable insight into the area. Like private diaries, they reveal some of the breakthrough moments in contemporary archaeological thinking, bringing inspiring thinking out of the academic world to a new audience.
Discoveries include previously unvisited cup and ring marked stones carved 3000 to 4000 years ago and recently revealed bronze-age hill forts, encircling magnificent chambered burial cairns and configurations of standing stones. It is the sheer density of ancient monuments that takes the breath away. With walks and bike routes ranging from 15 minutes¡¦ to 3 hours¡¦ duration, an ideal visit might last 2 days for those who wish to take in the entire programme. As well as untouched locations, NVA¡¦s interventions will take on dense forestry plantations, which are manipulated to create intriguing new entrances and vistas around chosen sites, while new audio compositions enhance the smallest living sounds and micro acoustics of the natural environment.
In the evening, a powerful outdoor production will be staged in an atmospheric forest location at the entrance to Kilmartin Glen, centred around a circular sculptural set constructed from hundreds of felled logs. Seen through the eyes of a renowned archaeologist, in HALF LIFE the realms of the living and the dead seem to merge, bringing to light the remarkable beliefs that focused the ritual activity in our earliest societies; beliefs that still echo through the present landscape. The powerful creative team includes Angus Farquhar and Mark Murphy, renowned for his previous dance choreography with V-TOL. A captivating score will be played live by harpist Rhodri Davies and violinist Angharad Davies, both creating an extended improvised repertoire, through the use of a remarkable range of materials including bones, slate and stones to draw subtle and unearthly sounds from their instruments. The script for the evening performance will be written by Thomas Legendre whose recent novel The Burning has received huge critical and public acclaim.
Kilmartin Glen, Argyll
4 -16 September 2007
Preview: 3 September 2007
Press performance on 4 September 2007
www.halflife.org.uk
For further information, please contact: Ben Chamberlain, on 020 7494 3665 or email ben@thecornershoppr.com Or
Emma Schad on 0141 227 9016 or email emma.schad@nationaltheatrescotland.com
