What happens when a stranger's washed ashore
New North East dance work to tour
North East dance artist Anthony Lo-Giudice is working on another ambitious production with which to enchant – and challenge - audiences this autumn.
This time, intriguingly, he adds puppetry to the more familiar mix of dance, live music and storytelling.
The topical new piece is called Se Gæst I The Guest (the former being Old English) and it is described as a powerful exploration of national identity, belonging and community.
They are familiar themes for Anthony, who was born in Palermo to British/Sicilian parents but brought up on Teesside - circumstances that inspired his last major piece, ROMA, which toured in 2022 and into 2023.
He is calling this new production his most ambitious so far – which is what he also said about his last one, indicating a theatre-maker forever pushing himself.
It tells of a young boy washed ashore somewhere in England, his unexpected arrival causing a community in turmoil to confront its attitudes to tolerance, blame, nostalgia and the rapidly changing world.
The story – no doubt still evolving - has been spun from conversations and interviews with people from multiple communities across the country.
“This work is about listening,” says Anthony… “about the uncomfortable, the conflicted and the tender parts of what it means to be from somewhere - or to arrive there.
“Through movement, story, and music, we’re asking: who do we become when we stand together?”
The piece, fusing “original music, physical performance and raw storytelling”, invites us, he adds, to reflect on our own place within a shifting national narrative.
Again Anthony has assembled some of the region’s most experienced dancers and musicians.
Caroline Reece, Alex Rowland, Alex Thirkle, Molly Procter, Brendan Murphy, Hannabiell Sanders and Andrea Jones are the performers while Karen Traynor is the dramaturg, ensuring a fluid narrative.
But an intriguing addition to the creative team is Saya Naruse, credited for puppet design.
The versatile artist’s interests include film, photography, puppetry and theatre-making.
Her past credits include Northern Stage’s 2023 Christmas show, Cinderella: A Fairytale, and she was the 2024 recipient of Baltic’s Bothy Project residency for emerging artists which earned her a week in a remote studio on the Isle of Eigg in the Inner Hebrides.
Perfect, perhaps, for imagining a stranger washed ashore.
Tickets are on sale from August 1 and a typically grand and eclectic list of tour venues has been assembled for Se Gæst I The Guest which premieres at Middlesbrough Town Hall on September 23 (Box office: 01642 729729).
Thereafter it will be performed at Seaton Delaval Hall on September 27 (0344 249 1895); York Minster on October 9; Queen’s Hall, Hexham, on October 18 (01434 652477); North Shields Fish Market, on the Fish Quay, on October 25; Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, on November 2 (01388 743797); and Dance City, Newcastle, on December 11.