Dawns i Bawb, Migrations and Galeri presentGLORIA DAYS Marc Rees (R.I.P.E.) Wales Galeri, Caernarfon Box Office 01286 685 222 Friday 5 December 7.30pm Tickets £10 adults £7.50 concessions Henry Cyril Paget, the fifth Marquis of Anglesey takes an evening stroll through his country estate. Wearing a flamboyant sable fur coat he walks along the banks of the Menai Straits, lighting braziers to illuminate the way. Overheating he removes his fur and throws it into the fire. He continues the walk, naked, the opulent rings on his fingers glistening under the flames. Known as the “Dancing Marquis” in his short life Henry Cyril Paget squandered an annual income of £8 million in today’s money causing devastation and distress. He converted the chapel at the family seat in Plas Newydd, Anglesey into a theatre and paid a touring theatre company extraordinary wages to perform for and with him, staging extravagant productions for friends, neighbours, servants, tenants and local people free of charge. He spent thousands and thousands of pounds on jewels, furs, cars, boats, perfumes and potions, medicines, dogs and horses and theatricals on a scale unimagined amongst the dilettante and profligate aristocracy of Edwardian England. He even had a perfume spray fitted to his car exhaust so that he would not offend his neighbours. He was bankrupt at 29. Gloria Days started off as a community dance project in partnership with Dawns i Bawb and involved 15 members of the community in Llanfairpwll, (individuals aged between 7-70 years old). Subsequently it grew and evolved into Marc Rees’ brand new flamboyant and ambitious theatrical work. With the support of a formidable creative team including opera designer John Mac Farlane, Berlin dance duo Rubato and theatre historian Vivian Gardner, Marc has created an imaginative compelling and moving piece of dance theatre inspired by an extraordinary character: the fifth Marquis of Anglesey: Henry Cyril Paget. His fantastical lifestyle and subsequent downfall provides the focus for the unique multi-disciplinary solo work which premiered in Swansea in October 2007 before transferring to The Millenium Centre, Cardiff for a sell out run. “Rees is clearly fascinated by the story of this recklessly profligate character, who long before the likes of Michael Jackson and the Beckams- frittered away a fortune on furs, jewels, baubles and gewgaws. Paget’s story is not widely known but this is a piece which should give him a higher profile”. “This is a work which oozes quality from first to last, and one in which both seasoned dance enthusiasts and newcomers will undoubtedly find much to enjoy”. Graham Williams Theatre in Wales Gloria Days was funded by the Arts Council of Wales, produced by R.I.P.E with mes:a International Performance Collective: co-produced by Taliesin, Diversions and Dawns i Bawb. |
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Saturday, October 25, 2008 |
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