Gary Stevens. Name

After showing Name in the theatrical surroundings of The Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, director Gary Stevens takes it to Chisenhale Gallery, challenging the audience to look at the piece both as fine art and theatre.

Loosely based on a performance commissioned by Heatwave ’91 at the Serpentine Gallery, Name is a complex memory game for three performers. It’s a family gathering where each character is defined by a place, a name, a posture, an object. The performers slip from one character to another, increasingly fast, in a wickedly volatile game of who’s who. Shades of T.S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party creep in with the arrival of an unexpected guest.

Name is performed by Gary Stevens with previous collaborators Andrew Davenport and Caroline Wilkinson. Lighting design is by Beth Hardisty.

Gary Stevens is a writer, director, performer and lecturer in fine art. Previous productions, including Animal (1989), Different Ghosts (1987) and If the Cap Fits (1986), have toured extensively in the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.

Name is also being performed at Nottingham’s Now ’92 festival on 3rd November and has received a sponsorship award from Barclays Bank under the six year Barclays New Stages scheme.

Gary Stevens
Name