‘Low Profile presents: Just in Case’ takes the form of a guided tour, where we read from a list of things that we ‘have’ ‘just in case’. We bring our audience from the ’safety’ of the gallery to ‘unsafe’, and often hidden spaces, such as: fire escapes, roof top spaces, storage and backstage areas and eventually back to the gallery again.
“Ready to go?”
In Oxford, we met with our audience in OVADA gallery on Gloucester Green, brought them through the gallery space, into the next door adjoining theatre (the Old Fire Station), out onto an enclosed roof space and down their fire escape.
“I’ve got a list of all your names just in case something goes wrong
I’ve got extra money on the meter just in case we’re going to be a while
I’ve got clean pants on just in case I’m in an accident
I’ve got 10p and a piece of string just in case there is an emergency
I’ve got a Brownie badge for first aid just in case you have an accident
I’ve got a cup of sweet tea just in case you’re in shock
I’ve got this list written down just in case I forget my words…”
We are then returned to the front of the OVADA gallery, however instead of going back inside we take a right turn, down a flight of stairs into the underground car park, moving at quite a fast pace. We continue out of the carpark, across the busy market square and into the stage door of another theatre (the New Theatre).
“I’ve got a fast car and tickets to Brazil just in case it all goes wrong
I’ve got a hat to hide behind just in case we’re seen
I’ve got big dark sunglasses just in case I cry
I’ve got big dark sunglasses just in case you leave
I’ve got masking tape just in case I get lonely
I’ve got superglue and gaffa tape just in case my heart gets broken…”
We keep reading.
“I’ve got monopoly money just in case we play later & I need to cheat
I’ve got make-up just in case I can’t face going outside
I’ve got lying through my teeth just in case I’m at an interview
I’ve got a lighter just in case I need an excuse to talk to strangers
I’ve got a sleeping back just in case you can’t get home
I’ve got a map of the world just in case it falls apart…“
The text at times becomes like a mantra, and sometimes more like a personal confession. We present our personal neuroticisms, fears and worries (sometimes true, sometimes fictional) so as to open up a space in which our audience can see their own concerns, everyday worries and themselves within, becoming a ‘part of it’ by exchanging our list of ‘just in case’s’ for their own.
“I’ve got transferable skills just in case I need to get a real job
I’ve got a bag packed just in case I need to run away
I’ve got a bag packed just in case my waters break…”
Our journey continues up the dressing room stairs, onto a flat roof space, into a small room with a steep stairs, back out onto a roof space and down a long winding fire escape, through the city and eventually back to the gallery where we started.
“Ready to go?”
photos: phil babot & will pollard
see the OVADA website >>
To date, we have presented versions of
‘LOW PROFILE presents: Just in Case’ at:
+ Giessen (DE) - diskurs05 festival
+ Rotterdam (NL) - TENT
+ Rotterdam (NL) - Gangkast
+ Oxford (UK) - OVADA live art residency