Photo: Eva Weiss
Must
A collaboration between Peggy Shaw and Clod Ensemble
Journey through the hills and valleys of one woman’s
body
Adventure across the melting ice caps and the thirsty deserts
“Shaw’s obsession with bones, with origins and what lies at our core is what drives a powerful hour of deeply personal probing… I sincerely urge you to spend an hour in the hands of a genius.” Edinburgh Festival Magazine
Must is a poetic look at what it feels like to have a body. It excavates the memories and images contained in the joints and layers of bone.
Inspired by images from Gulliver’s Travels, Hildegarde von Bingen, The Elephant Man and everyday experiences of the medical profession, Must takes a hard stare at the medical gaze and the assumptions people make about each others bodies.
“ Exquisite… This is open-heart surgery of the artistic kind, performed without anaesthetic.” The Guardian
Written for the Art Injection series, the performance platform for the company’s Performing Medicine project.
2009 Total Theatre Award Special Commendation
“Powerful, honest and life-affirming: if only all incisions to the body were this beautiful.” Time Out
See What's On for upcoming performances.
Bone & connected tissue
Peggy Shaw is a self-made independent performer, writer, teacher, producer from New York. She co-founded with Lois Weaver The WOW Cafe Theatre in New York, and the World-renowned Touring Theatre Company Split Britches, both of which have been in operation for 26 years. She is also a solo performer and tours her trio on masculinity You're Just like My Father, Menopausal Gentleman, and To My Chagrin. She is the recipient of three Village Voice Obie Awards and has also been awarded the Stonewall Award for 'making the world a better place'. Peggy has collaborated with Clod Ensemble before onIt's A Small House and Miss Risque.
Credits
By Peggy Shaw & Suzy Willson
Original music by Paul Clark
The first dose of Must was administered at
BAC for The End of the World Cabaret on 5th May 2007 . Must has since been performed at:
Wellcome Collection, November 2007 & 2008.
The Royal London Hospital March 2008 & 2009.
The Bernie Grant Arts Centre, March 2008 .
The ShowRoom Chichester, February 2009.
The Junction in Cambridge, March 2009.
Leeds Metropolitan University’s Studio Theatre, March 2009.
Anatomy Lecture Theatre, University of Edinburgh Medical School, August 2009.
Supported by
A Wellcome Trust People Award, Arts Council England (as part of the Performing Medicine Project)
© Clod Ensemble 2007