DRINK VIOLIN
BATS Theatre, Studio, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
22/02/2017 - 24/02/2017
NZ Fringe Festival 2017 [reviewing supported by WCC]
Production Details
Solo show by Chris Prosser which explores the interface of violin and voice: singing whilst playing violin.
He explains: “I was never totally happy just playing the violin. Something was missing. Now I know what it is: I want to sing and act at the same time. I like to drink the violin whilst playing it, become intoxicated, and vocalize with it – sometimes in English and other times in a spontaneous made-up nonsense tongue, to enhance the mood of the song. Now I perform at the interface of violin and voice.”
These songs make for an unusual form of music theatre, presented as stand-up with chat. The show is both stand-up comedy and stand-up serious. Both entertainment and art. The aim is that the audience will become emotionally involved by entering a highly individualistic imaginary world.
To give a flavour of what is on offer, here are some of the song titles: ‘The Nobody Inn’, ‘The Bun Shop Song’, ‘Chords are Very Strange Things’, ‘Philosophy Song: discussion between a Dog a Goat and a Shepherd’, ‘Ya Glottal’, ‘Gypsy Waltz Offset’, ‘Two Page Epic’.
Chris is also influenced by Steven Mithen’s book The Singing Neanderthals, in particular this extract on anatomy and the hominid call repertoire:
“If our woodland-living 6-million-year-old ancestor had the same call repertoire as modern African apes, how would this have evolved by 1.8 million years ago among the hominids that lived on the open savannah? We should first note that the anatomical differences between the early hominids, especially Homo, and the modern-day apes would have provided the potential for a more diverse range of vocal sounds. The key difference is the reduction in the size of the teeth and jaws because of the dietary trend toward meat-eating. This would have changed the shape and volume of the final section of the vocal tract. The more upright stance deriving from partial bipedalism would also have changed the vocal tract. The changes to the teeth and jaws, and hence the potential movement of the tongue and lips, are important because we can think of sounds emitted from the mouth as deriving from ‘gestures’, each created by a particular position of the so-called articulatory machinery : the muscles of the tongue, lips, jaws and velum (soft palate). When we say the word ‘bad’, for instance, we begin with a gesture with the lips pursed together, whereas the word ‘dad’ begins with a gesture involving the tip of the tongue and the hard palate. So each of our syllables relates to a particular oral gesture.”
In 2009 Chris Prosser returned to Wellington after living and working as a musician in London. He has appeared in many recent Fringe Festival theatre and music shows as a way to reinvigorate the creative spirit.
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Tce, Mt Victoria, Wellington
22-24 Feb 2017
9.30pm
BOOKINGS: fringe.co.nz
TICKETS: $16/$13/$10
Theatre , Solo , Musical ,
45 mins
Quite mesmerizing
Review by Patrick Davies 23rd Feb 2017
Chris Prosser’s Drink Violin is one of the great reasons to have Fringe. As more and more mainstream productions are placed in a Fringe as a better way to garner their audience, it’s great to be challenged by something out of your comfort zone.
“One man, one violin and some serious multi-tasking” is what the programme says. I think it should read “Part man, part Violin”. Prosser is obviously an incredible musician playing his instrument in ways I’ve never heard before. The show is a set of short songs in the Studio at BATS, all of which are written by Prosser.
The lights are out at the beginning and Prosser enters playing and singing in a melodic yet guttural way; as he creeps around to his music stand I wonder what language he is singing in. The music itself is somewhat atonal, with crisp rhythms darting here and there.
In between we get some introduction to each song and as he outlines the development of the mouth and throat cavity of the early hominids because of dietary changes I catch on that this is about sound and feeling, which is backed up on exit as we get a programme.
Most of the songs are in a made-up language and are a response to occasions and events in the world. ‘Set Fire to the Past’ is a response to a picture of ISIS building a bonfire of musical instruments; ‘Philosophy Song’ is a discussion between and dog, a goat, and a shepherd. Some are more serious sounding than others, more often than not there is a humorous element involved (as with ‘Philosophy Song’) which has the audience laughing.
Most of the songs are incredibly difficult to play, involving almost ridiculously difficult rhythm patterns as well as virtuoso playing. Prosser also sings whilst playing in this made up language with is more guttural, glotteral, and glissandic. The result is quite mesmerizing.
If you’re out for a very interesting night, then this is the show for you.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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