Musician/composer and novelist Luke Sutherland and Christine Devaney co-lead on this project, incorporating their shared passion for exploring the connections and interplay between music, dance and the origin of stories. Luke had suggested they return to and develop the way they worked on their first creative encounter in the studio during rehearsals for Venus As A Boy, the National Theatre of Scotland and Burnt Goods’ production of Luke’s novel of the same name, which Christine co-directed with Tam Dean Burn. Luke composed the music for the show and was struck by the detail and storytelling that Christine could access through subtle choreography.

At The Mercy Of Fabulous Thoughts is a new monologue written by Luke; during what may be a full-scale military invasion of Scotland, a young mother is forced by enemy soldiers to choose which of her two daughters must face execution.

And The Birds Did Sing; using a monologue which Christine is in the process of writing, the impetus for this work came from the depth of feeling and release at those moments when you know the world will never be quite the same again for you. A woman remembers a girl who knew a woman who listened to the birds.

Staring from two very different monologues, the artists move away from their usual starting points and principal disciplines to explore how the work may say something different, other than the written words, as it is pulled apart and reimagined. 

Moving Monologues was at MAYFESTO 2018!

On Saturday 5th May 2018, we presented both monologues as rehearsed readings as part of The Tron Theatre's MAYFESTO programme.  And The Birds Did Sing was presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019.

In developing this project to date, we have worked with an outstanding creative team including actor Rosalind Sydney and artist Yvonne Buskie. The research for Moving Monologues so far has been kindly supported by a Plan B ‘Choreocraft’ residency in Dec 2014.