Running On Empty (2012-2014)
Running On Empty is the story of a man, a woman and their encounters over time – travelling through dreams, fears and jagged memories. Absurd, humorous and sometimes devastating, Running On Empty journeys from a woman’s loss through her struggle for a future and the emptiness she must overcome to survive. How long will she keep running?
Running wild. Running out of time. Running on Empty.
Dance, text and song combine in this intrepid new work from Probe. Artistic Director Antonia Grove brings together an extraordinary team of creative collaborators including: Director Jo McInnes (Royal Court), writer Brad Birch (Soho Theatre, Royal Court), choreographer Charlie Morrissey, songwriter Lee Ross, designer Fabrice Serafino, lighting designer Beky Stoddart, devised with performers Greig Cooke, Antonia Grove and composer Scott Smith.
“The excellent Antonia Grove… is a voice in the dance theatre world that is worth listening to.” Time Out London
Soho Theatre run 2014.
Trailer
Teaser
Antonia:
I began merging artforms and introducing collaborators outside of contemporary dance very early on with Probe; film makers, composers, using text and song, creating sets that moved and transformed the space etc. Always looking for interesting ways to challenge the stereotypes of contemporary dance presentation.
For Running on Empty I wanted to continue collaborating with Artists from different genres, inviting Theatre Director Jo McInnes, writer Brad Birch, choreographer Charlie Morrissey and songwriter Lee Ross.
Despite an extensive research period, when we came into the studio to create Running on Empty the work still felt very elusive. We had no definitive script or songs to hold onto and we had to develop a new choreographic language and live sound score for each scene as it emerged. Scenes would appear, come to life and then disappear as the piece evolved, relevant to the process but irrelevant as the story as it unfolded.
This was probably Probe’s most ambitious and challenging project to date, I’m proud of what we achieved and learnt through the making of this work but we didn’t quite nail it! When the collaborators are this good the stakes are extremely high, making the process thrilling when it works and terrifying when the pieces of the puzzle don’t quite fit. Running On Empty was a lesson in love, and remains both brilliant and flawed.
Photos: Matthew Andrews, Zoe Manders
