Giving Up – A Creative Marathon

Giving Up – A Creative Marathon

Some people run marathons – Ant Glyph does marathons of a completely different type.

His festival of art, music and live performance Giving Up is set to test the dozens of participating performers and volunteers as he takes over Auckland’s historic Victoria Theatre this Saturdayand Sunday, May 10th and 11th with every part of the theatre in action for 12 hours a day.

Featuring a 90 minute rotating play - with six performances each day, thirteen performers playing 26 roles, art installations, film screenings, live performances by Fledge musicians and much more, Giving Up is a huge piece of entertainment by any estimation.

“The marathon aspect of the performance is important to the work,” says creator Ant Glyph.

“The play is an evolution which will change and improve throughout the weekend. There is a ‘workshop’ aspect to the performance, so what we perform on Saturday afternoon is likely to be dramatically different to Sunday evening’s content!” he said.

Giving Up tells the story of a boy who grows up in 1970’s Dunedin, who discovers more than he expects to about life and sexuality, at his older brother’s flat party. It is loosely based on Ant’s early life, but has grown to be a fictional creation. It deals with sexuality and art, love and loss, relationships and inner peace, drugs and rock and roll, youth, old age, and madness.

Ant calls the presentation a ‘deconstructed film experience’ with reading, acting, live music and audio visual elements all working together to create ‘an experience like no other’.

The entire performance draws heavily on the talents of the young artists of Fledge, a collective of artists, dedicated to nurturing new talent and creating ground-breaking work – be it music, film, literature or art.

Ant was a founding director of Fledge and continues to be a director of Fledge along with Ben Campbell and Hera Hjartardottir, now supported by CreativeNZ and currently involved in a program called ‘Art Beat’. The Art Beat program integrates art and entertainment into Christchurch city’s rebuild and since the pilot programme first ran from November 2012, the Art Beat music programme has included over 500 performers of multiple genres.

The marathon aspect of Giving Up is testament to Ant’s prodigious energy and belief in the creative process.

Says Ant, “To me art is not just the canvas that hangs on the wall of a home or a gallery. Art is not just the installation of ideas. Art is the process - the ugly beginnings, the rough sketch, the ridiculous idea, the delusion…this all leads to a finished piece.”

“Giving Up is going to be an extraordinary experience… part of an incredible journey. Whatever time you arrive, and whether you stay two hours or 12 - we guarantee an experience like no other,” he said.

Read more about Ant Glyph and his previous work as founder of MadAnt Productions, on the Fledge website at: http://fledge.co.nz/ynot-piggott

‘Giving Up’ by Ynot Productions; in collaboration with fledge; Victoria Theatre, Devonport, Auckland, May 10th & 11th.

Tickets from $20 through www.thevic.co.nz

ENDS

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