Void Story

Created 2009

Back to projects

Void Story follows a beleaguered pair of protagonists on a rollercoaster ride through the decimated remains of contemporary culture.
Navigating one terrible cityscape after another, mugged, shot at and bitten by insects, pursued through subterranean tunnel systems, stowed away in refrigerated transport, shacked up in haunted hotels and lost in wildernesses, backstreets and bewildering funfairs, they travel to the centre of a night so intense that there are no stars to be seen.

Forced Entertainment perform the bleak and comical contemporary fable of Void Story as if it were a radio play, sitting at tables, turning the pages of the script, ‘doing’ the requisite voices and adding in sound effects for gunshots, rain and bad phone-lines.

Simultaneously the otherwise empty stage is dominated by a series of projected images, a storyboard for an impossible movie-version of Tim Etchells’ uniquely unsettling text. Somewhere between the live dialogue, the recorded sound effects and the collaged images attempting to visualise the narrative, is where Void Story actually takes place.

To play the media you will need to update your browser

Images

Video

REACTIONS

"Somewhere in my head they are still running, and I'm keeping them alive through force of will".

The Guardian

"Void Story is a lushly macabre piece that makes a farce of storytelling. **** "

What's on Stage

"The post-apocalyptic atmosphere of all-round hopelessness is filled with the dark, perceptive comedy of Tim Etchells’ script. Etchells is a master of the absurd. ****"

OMHmusic.com

credits

Conceived and devised by the company

Text, Images and Direction Tim Etchells
Performers Robin Arthur, Richard Lowdon, Cathy Naden, Terry O’Connor
Design Richard Lowdon
Sound & Music John Avery
Lighting Nigel Edwards
Production Management Jim Harrison, Ray Rennie
Sound and Projection Technician Elb Hall

Performers in Photo-Collages Rajni Shah, Chris Williams, Kaya Freeman, Nigel Edwards, Jim Fletcher, Bob Clarke, Will Waghorn, Vlatka Horvat Additional Photoshop Assistance Stephanie Wong, Graeme Stonehouse

Void Story is a Forced Entertainment production

Co-produced by SPILL Festival with support from Tanzquartier Wien Vienna and Tate Media