The dark observer has eyes for Newtown

Jane Grimley, of Newtown-based theatre company The DeConverters, is a busy woman indeed.

For her latest brainchild, The Witness in the Wall – due to hit theatres next month – co-ordinating a team of artists and performers is time-consuming, but ultimately very rewarding.

This 90-minute performance immerses the audience in a lush cinematic landscape, combining contemporary theatre, digital video and sound art.

“In a sense, the work is about the exposure of private moments, and how we invite that into our lives. Maybe intrusion of privacy, but maybe more what embracing voyeurism does for us – our sense of intimacy, our personal relationships,” Ms Grimley said.

“I love unravelling and re-working stories, images and ideas, but what I’m really excited about is steering a team of diverse artists in this project, sparking off each others’ ideas.

“And that’s how we made the work; we started with a series of questions and observations about the issues and dense, rich stories just seemed to spill out. We have been really fortunate to have the support of Newtown Theatre and PACT, and we’ve made this adventurous theatrical work.”

Ms Grimley said she hopes to entice more people to get out of the house and see live performance. “Because there is actually quite a lot happening if you just look past the billboards for cars, soft drinks and Viagra,” she said.

Working with video artist Sasha Cohen and sound artist Daniel Brown, The Witness in the Wall performs at Newtown Theatre from September 10 to 26, then moves to Newcastle in October for the This Is Not Art festival in the Crack Theatre.

See www.thedeconverters.com/witness for more information.

by Ben Storey