Robert Ashley, 'Foreign Experiences'
Sam Ashley and Jacqueline Humbert perform Robert Ashley's Foreign Experiences, in a two-voice version directed by Sam Ashley. With guest performer Charlie Poulet.
Theatre, 6 May 2009, 7pm
Robert Ashley has been an operatic innovator since the 1960s, and is a hugely influential figure in the contemporary music scene. Combining electroacoustic experimentation and extended vocal techniques, his works centre on the delivery of the spoken word, and often echo the patter of a salesman or evangelist. Densely layered with narrative and social character, they form a timeless and sometimes surreal portrait of the American voice. The ICA hosted the UK premiere of Foreign Experiences, directed by Robert Ashley and performed by Sam Ashley and Jacqueline Humbert. The piece follows the story of Don Jr., an academic who moves with his family from the Midwest of America to California, and who gradually slips into a paranoid world of government intrigue and mysterious revolutionaries.
Video production by Lightweight Media.