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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.

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.

Buy the complete audio recording of Must on iTunes.


Reviews

“ 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

Credits

By Peggy Shaw and Suzy Willson

Directed by Suzy Willson
Music by Paul Clark
Lighting by Hansjörg Schmidt
Design by Sarah Blenkinsop

Performed by Peggy Shaw

Musicians: Calina de la Mare (Violin), John Paul Gandy (Piano), Lucy Shaw (Double Bass)

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.
Under the Radar Festival, Public Theater, New York, January 2010.
Scottish Arts Council, Arts and Health Symposium, March 2010.
Newcastle Science Festival, CultureLab Newcastle, March 2010.
Oxfordshire Science Festival, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, March 2010.
Behaviour Festival, The Arches, Glasgow, May 2010.
Queer Up North Festival, The Library Theatre, Manchester, May 2010.
Mayfest, Bristol Old Vic, Bristol, May 2010.
AMH Conference 2010, Peninsular Medical School, July 2010.
Live at LICA, The Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster, March 2011.
The Basement, Brighton, March 2011.
Imperial College School of Medicine, March 2011.
University of Massachusetts, Amherst USA, April 2011.
Anatomy Theatre, Kings College London, November 2011.
Creative Space, Western Infirmary, Glasgow, February 2012.
Anglia Ruskin Drama Studio, Cambridge, February 2012
The Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, The University of Manchester, March 2012.

Supported by

A Wellcome Trust People Award, Arts Council England (as part of the Performing Medicine Project)