Multi – award winning and internationally acclaimed physical theatre company Gecko come to HOME with Institute, an intimate, funny and moving exploration of what it means to care, between Wednesday 19 – Saturday 22 October 2016.
When the time c omes, will anyone really care? Set in a warped world of emotional compartmentalisation and treatment – where memories are filed, relationships scrutinised, and patient becomes carer and vice versa – four people undergo a series of extraordinary physical ‘treatments’ as they struggle to prepare themselves for the outside world. But a Gecko world is never as it first appears…
Expect ingenious set design, featuring giant filing cabinets from which fully formed memories, whole relationships, and personal secrets are pulled out and filed away; visceral movement and intricate group choreography from the cast – Chris Evans, Ryen Perkins – Gangnes, François Testory and Amit Lahav,also the company’s Artistic Director – and moments of stunning tenderness and beauty that shine brightly from the shadows.
Directed by Amit Lahav, Institute comes to Manchester for five performances after storming success at the 2015 London International Mime Festival, the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe, the British Dance Edition 2016, a successful run at The Place 2016 , and international tours to Kazakhstan, Romania, and Georgia.
As part of the tour of Institute, Gecko is hosting a series of events to help audiences to further explore the issues of mental wellbeing raised in Institute to tie in with World Mental Health Day on Monday 10 October. The company has teamed up with Suffolk Mind as the lead partner on the project, and will also work with mental health networks in Manchester. The project is supported by a Wellcome People Award, and consists of four strands:
Post – show discussion on Thu 20 Oct with local experts in mental health.
Materials for a audiences that supply further information on the show and the project as well as useful information on mental well- being and ways to access to support locally.
After every performance, a representative from a local mental health support network will be available to talk to members of the audience in the foyer.
Amit Lahav, alongside the performers and Ezra Hewing, from Suffolk Mind,will run a one – off workshop at HOME (Fri 21 Oct, 14:00 – 17:00) for people interested in exploring the matters raised by Institute
