We are very happy to be able to invite our audience to attend this first run of our new work, In Tall Grass, for free (though donations are as always welcome).
We think it will appeal to a very wide range of people so this could be a chance to come to an Echo Echo performance for the first time or, if you are a regular, to invite friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances along. We are hoping our little performance space will be full, so we recommend booking in advance by calling the Echo Echo office or sending a message via email or our website.
In Tall Grass has been created by the Echo Echo Ensemble under the direction of Alessandra Celesia.
Alessandra Celesia is a multi-talented artist; a very experienced performer, theatre director and film-maker. She is originally from Italy, spent time living in Northern Ireland in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and is now based in Paris. Echo Echo’s co-founder Ursula Laeubli got to know Alessandra not long after moving to Northern Ireland in 1997 and since then we had the desire to make a production with her.
Over the past couple of years we have finally been able to gather the resources and to find occasional times to spend together exploring, playing and researching. In Tall Grass is the result of that long term and rather gentle process leading to a more intense period of creation this summer.
Alessandra’s recent work has mostly been in 'new documentary'. She has been making films which invite you to the hidden, quirky, poignant stories of extraordinary, ordinary people. In Tall Grass is an extension of this practice into theatre. It is a kind of documentary theatre made of true stories from the autobiographies of the ordinary-extraordinary members of the Echo Echo Ensemble.
The work is intimate, touching, funny and tragic. As well as some dancing it includes poetry, music, singing, home movies and Soviet era costumes. The performance is accessible to anyone who shares the common human tendencies to be both ordinary and extraordinary, and to enjoy hearing other people’s true stories.
Created and Performed by: Ayesha Mailey, Zoe Ramsey, Tonya Sheina, Janie Doherty, Kelly Quigley and Steve Batts.
Created and Directed by: Alessandra Celesia
Technical Manager: Barry Davis
Produced by: Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company
Running time +/- 80 minutes
Suitable for 14years+
Admission free, donations welcome. Advance booking recommended via Contact Us.
Audience Feedback
Really amazing. Powerful. Very brave. Moving. Five stars!
was moved to tears, exhilarated, never seen anything like it before, immersive and raw.
I loved everything about it. It was utterly beautiful.
Beautiful brave work, complex and emotive. I thoroughly enjoyed all the performances.
Very powerful, moving. Perfect combination of talk, song, music, dance and visual.
Extremely beautiful and moving. Made me think how rich and vibrant everyone’s lives are. The unfathomable depths of all our souls. I felt glad to be alive.
Thanks
New work commission supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland . With thanks to Tinderbox / ACNI Joint Sectoral Dramaturgy Project.