Drive faster...we'll miss it!
South Hill Park, Bracknell
| 'Drive Faster...we'll miss it!' was a promenade performance which took place around the foyers, staircases, studios and cafeteria of South Hill Park's great mansion as part of FRESH's very first festival. Disguised as audience members watching the festival, two actors moved between each performance in the festival whilst creating and acting out a stealth performance of their own. This performance focuses on Matt and Sadie, a married couple going through a bit of a rocky time... |
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| They have driven to South Hill Park to watch the FRESH festival, because one of their friends is supposed to be performing there. But running late as usual, they argue furiously in the car before arriving and, once inside, are so flustered, that they are unsure where to go and have forgotten the name of the show they are supposed to watch. Frantically, they join a nearby group of visitors who appear to be on their way into a performance and who confirm when asked, that they have also come to watch the FRESH festival. |
CAST
Matt - Will Tosh
Sadie - Lydia Fraser-Ward
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TECHNICAL
Writer - Tamara von Werthern
Hair & Make-Up - Monica Teufel
Photography - Christian Schmermer
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| But after being trapped watching a contemporary dance piece which is of no interest to either of them, Sadie and Matt soon realise that their friend's name doesn't appear anywhere in the programme. Unsure what to do or where to go, Matt sets his mind on just driving back home, but Sadie decides that she wants to stay and make the most of their evening out, much against his wishes. Tempted to leave Sadie behind to make her own way home, Matt changes his mind at the last minute and stays to endure more weird and unrelated performances which have been clubbed together to make this promenade around the mansion. |
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But soon enough the arguing starts again, and Matt, insisting they leave, starts to blame Sadie for the misery of their marriage. He reminds her of numerous other experiences which he has had to endure just to please her whims and is finally fed up of wasting his precious free time attending ludicrous and bizarre art events. |
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Sadie, however, is not a woman to be trifled with and she explodes with resentment and fury in the cafeteria making quite a scene in front of all the other visitors. Their argument comes to a head and it is clear that neither party is willing to apologise or even try to work things out. Both Sadie and Matt show no emotion and quickly separate to leave the mansion alone. But there is an atmosphere of regret and the audience are left with the final image of Sadie quietly sitting alone in a corner. Their marriage may not have been a bed of roses, but its end is obviously painful for both of them and the spectator is left wondering, even wishing that they can still make it work somehow... |
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Synopsis (pdf)