Shot in the Head

Shot in the Head (2000)

A musical photograph devised by Charlie Barber, David Hughes (director) and Sophia Lycouris (choreographer)

s sax, vib, vln, vcl, db

Duration: c. 60 minutes

Using a backdrop of silent horror movies, film noir, and archive footage, Shot in the Head takes an episodic journey through the darker moments of the twentieth century.Drawing parallels between the rise of fascism in the Berlin in the 1920’s, the McCarthyite USA of the fifties and the surveillance obsessed London of the 90’s, Shot in the Head looks at what has been lurking in the shadows of our living memories.

First performed at Chapter Theatre, Cardiff on 23 June 2000

Performers: David Hughes, Sophia Lycouris

Musicians: Simon Stewart (soprano saxophone), Colin McCann (percussion), Jeff Moore (violin), Sharon McKinley (cello), Paula Gardiner (double bass)

Technical support: Duncan Thompson

Images

Performances

23.06.00CARDIFFChapter Theatre
24.06.00CARDIFFChapter Theatre
28.06.00BRECONTheatr Brycheiniog
29.06.00ABERGAVENNYBorough Theatre
30.06.00FISHGUARDTheatr Gwaun

Press

“With its joint themes of witnessing and evidence, Shot in the Head took us on a dark, death-filled trip from the streets and sewers of Harry Lime’s Vienna to the horrors of the Cromwell Street cellar, from the Bertolt Brecht’s examination during the Hollywood era of the McCarthy witchhunts to Albert Speer and others of Hitler’s staff. Disjointed in time, this was a trip of emotion not history. It was a truly multimedia performance. Charlie Barber’s score, performed live, successfully, sometimes disturbingly, evoked the spirit of place. His music took us by the hand into the backstreets of a decadent post-war Vienna and never really released us again.”
Sue Burnett, The Western Mail, 27 June 2000

Credits

With the financial support of the Arts Council of Wales and the Musicians’ Union

Works index