Unknown Pleasures#1 Threshold directed by Marc Rees
Featuring Wendy Houstoun and John Rowley and introducing Swansea Metropolitan University Students Stephen Donnelly and Rachel Walsh
Design by Suzi Dorey
At the northern end of Swansea High Street sits a curious wedge-shaped building – a former music hall and variety theatre that has played host to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Lillie Langtry and Marie Lloyd (and a few less illustrious acts including Pongo the Man Monkey). The Palace Theatre opened in 1888. It survived the blitz, was the first venue in Wales to screen a silent movie, served as the setting of an Iris Gower trilogy and became a notorious gay night club in the early 80’s. It is now sadly derelict and decaying.
One hundred and twenty years after its opening, we mark the occasion and draw attention to its fascinating past with a striking performance that will re-examine and re-imagine its history. Director Marc Rees brings together two extraordinary performers and two brand new talents in a unique, strange and flamboyant artwork that brings explorations from the dilapidated Palace to the stage of Taliesin. Threshold sifts through its abandoned artefacts, playing in the dust and stirring its memories of forgotten variety acts and lingering dance anthems.
Unknown Pleasures is a series of exciting experiments in theatre brought to you by Volcano Theatre Company, Taliesin Arts Centre and Swansea Metropolitan University. This innovative partnership is bringing together Wales’s finest artists and its best emerging talents. Unknown Pleasures is a new wellspring of vitality in contemporary theatre. You saw it here first!
Featuring Wendy Houstoun and John Rowley and introducing Swansea Metropolitan University Students Stephen Donnelly and Rachel Walsh
Design by Suzi Dorey
At the northern end of Swansea High Street sits a curious wedge-shaped building – a former music hall and variety theatre that has played host to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Lillie Langtry and Marie Lloyd (and a few less illustrious acts including Pongo the Man Monkey). The Palace Theatre opened in 1888. It survived the blitz, was the first venue in Wales to screen a silent movie, served as the setting of an Iris Gower trilogy and became a notorious gay night club in the early 80’s. It is now sadly derelict and decaying.
One hundred and twenty years after its opening, we mark the occasion and draw attention to its fascinating past with a striking performance that will re-examine and re-imagine its history. Director Marc Rees brings together two extraordinary performers and two brand new talents in a unique, strange and flamboyant artwork that brings explorations from the dilapidated Palace to the stage of Taliesin. Threshold sifts through its abandoned artefacts, playing in the dust and stirring its memories of forgotten variety acts and lingering dance anthems.
Unknown Pleasures is a series of exciting experiments in theatre brought to you by Volcano Theatre Company, Taliesin Arts Centre and Swansea Metropolitan University. This innovative partnership is bringing together Wales’s finest artists and its best emerging talents. Unknown Pleasures is a new wellspring of vitality in contemporary theatre. You saw it here first!