Taking the basic Smiths’ track Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me as their cue, director, author and performer Ben Harrison and musician and composer David Paul Jones delve into the fantastic, troubled, exhilarating and oddly harmless decade – the 80s.
Entwining David’s unique music and covers of the 80s classics (from The Smiths and Kate Bush to Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Tears For Fears, amongst others) with Ben’s quick tales, all set within the 80s when each males have been youngsters, the play is a night of open-hearted, emotive and at occasions humorous dive again into the world of mix-tapes, Walkmans, fumbled early encounters, cider on the carpet, sleepovers and lengthy nights and early mornings hanging out on the bus cease with nothing to do however smoke and dream…
This incredible instance of the fantastic thing about gig theatre is a sequel to Ben Harrison’s brilliantly obtained collaboration with Amy Duncan in 2022, Undertow Overflow, which noticed Ben acting on stage for the primary time in 27 years.
The present is directed by Scott Johnston, written and carried out by Ben Harrison with unique music and covers by David Paul Jones, additionally that includes Justyna Jablonska on cello, Emery Hunter as BSL Signed performer for all performances and Simon Wilkinson on lighting design.
Ben Harrison and David Paul Jones’ collaboration and friendship started with the Grid Iron present Those Eyes, That Mouth in 2003 which received seven awards and was offered to nice acclaim in Edinburgh and Beirut.
Ben Harrison is likely one of the most acclaimed and awarded theatre administrators in Scotland, identified greatest for his work as Co-Artistic Director of the multi-award-winning firm Grid Iron. He started his profession in 1988 when he based a theatre firm in Norwich devoted to bringing fashionable classics by Ionesco, Berkoff, Churchill and Sartre to East Anglia. Ben returned to the stage as a performer for Undertow Overflow for the primary time in 27 years. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me is a consolidation of this comparatively new departure in his observe.
Ben Harrison stated: “I’m delighted to be returning to the stage as a performer again in the company of wonderful and trusted collaborators Scott Johnston and David Paul Jones and some exciting new artists. Delving back into my teenage years in the Eighties has been fascinating, very funny and very healing as David and I revisit our formative experiences in those years from the perspective of the present day.”
David Paul Jones is a classically educated composer and pianist and one of many main composers and musical performers on the Scottish performing arts scene. His work blends up to date classical sensibilities with digital sound, creating emotive and atmospheric music from acoustic instrumental works, songs and larger-scale vocal works, to soundtracks and sound designs for theatre and dance. He has labored with Scotland’s main performing arts corporations, together with the National Theatre of Scotland, Grid Iron, Dundee Rep, Traverse Theatre, Curious Seed and Catherine Wheels.
David Paul Jones stated: “Ben Harrison and I have been collaborators for over twenty years, creating many theatre productions together with Grid Iron and beyond. I grew up in Ayrshire in the 1980s and fell in love with the music of Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, a love affair that triggered my own path to a life dedicated to composing and performing music. One of my passions is re-imagining classic songs, getting under the skin of a song’s poetry and often finding a deeper, sometimes hidden, narrative. 80s music has this potential in abundance.”
TOUR DATES:
- Tron, Glasgow: 19 – 21 September
- Summerhall, Edinburgh: 23 – 25 September
- James Milne Institute, Findhorn Bay Arts Festival: 28 September
Tickets on sale quickly.
