Willi Betz

Spotted in Dublin yesterday.

Nine Years Old (Not Quite Ten/No Longer Eight)

Nine Years is at SS Michael & John, Essex Street West (3 minutes from Project Arts Centre) tonight and tomorrow.

Since forming in 1997 Lone Twin has become one of the UK's leading performance makers, showing regularly across the world to popular and critical acclaim. Formed by Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters, originally to work with performance on ideas of place, context and travel, Lone Twin have created an internationally celebrated body of work. Performances often involve great physical attempts on playfully heroic journeys, concentrating on contextual concerns the work has often engaged with local environments and conditions. For some years a series of walks across cities, villages, towns and shorelines created performances built of meetings with local residents, workers, tourists. Premiered in 2006, this is Lone Twin's last duo performance piece, a farewell to their first nine years.

You will learn about their heroic attempts to line dance blindfolded for 12 hours, to read Moby Dick's 135 chapters in their entirety over a three day North Sea crossing and many other wonderful follies.

Strange things taking place behind closed doors....

Gob Squad are gearing up for the first performance of Room Service tonight, Wednesday, starting at 7pm. You will be invited to help Bastian, Berit, Simon and Sarah make it through the night as they sit alone in their hotel bedrooms with only the minibar and their own desperate inventiveness for company. With Wynn's Hotel the backdrop for the half-marathon performance they will run the gamut of emotions from A to B, at least. Connected via a phone line to the conference room where the audience watches the drama unfold they may make an occasional bid for contact with the outside word but as Leo Sayer knows "A telephone can't take the place of your smile."

Audiodetour: video

This is how some of our audiodetour might look:

Video by Alex Synge:


*maebh

Fawlty Towers meets Big Brother?

Probably not, but I thought that might get your attention. Now that Cargo Sofia is firing on all cylinders I'm looking forward to the Gob Squad show next week. Room Service is another smart and accessible piece from the Anglo-German group, last with us in 2006, and will be performed at the inimitable Wynn's Hotel, just off O'Connell Street, on Wednesday and Thursday next, 9 & 10 May.


On their previous visit Gob Squad presented Super Night Shot a four channel digital film which they shot in on the streets of Dublin in a single take in January of last year. The Irish Times described Super Night Shot as "riveting viewing... like a no-budget mesh of 24 and the title sequence of Dallas."

Room Service lasts for five hours from 7pm and you can come and go as you please, although it's advisable to be there for the first hour as that's when you get a handle on the setup for the show. You watch Room Service on four large monitors in the function room of Wynn's and can nip in and out of the bar next door as you please.

Cargo Sofia reviewed

Great response to the piece on RTÉ's 'The View' programme last night.
Click here to watch the programme - you will need something like RealPlayer to view the clip but if you're reading this you probably know how that works.

Cargo Sofia photos :: Tuesday 01 May

Judy Molloy from BFK took part in the Cargo Sofia event last night. She brought along her camera. Here are few shots that give a flavour of yesterday’s event.

The audience loitering around chq, waiting for everything to kick-off.

The driver narrating one of his stories from outside of the truck.

Singing amidst the containers.

The driver-cam projected inside the viewing room.

All of the performers join the singer on O’Connell Street. To the bemusement and amusement of the passers-by.

Disembarking back at chq.

Full programme now available all over Dublin

The full very handy postcard sized programme for We Are Here 2.0 is available in pubs, restaurants, bars etc in PictureWorks postcard racks. Spotted it in Cafe Bar Deli on George's Street on Saturday night - hot off the press!

Cargo Baksheesh

Ever had trouble at the border?
Last night I went to the dress rehearsal of Cargo Sofia

I don't want to give its secrets away.

But it's a strange and lovely thing to be wished a happy transport, then be driven around your city with the blinds down.
Open up and reveal...well, not like a sight you'd recognise, or a spectacular one you are impressed by...just the side of some containers things really.
Not bam-bam-in-your-face but evocative and real and make-believe and understated and very very human.

C u very soon
*maebh

Currently listening: Pitbull: El Mariel

This is a picture i found on a google search:

Audiodetour: woooooosh

When was the last time you cycled a bike?

What's On Where and When?

To make it easy for you, here's a summary.
Cargo Sofia has finished its Dublin performances and the crew are currently in Spain preparing for Cargo Sofia - Madrid.
The Audio Detour starts at Grattan Bridge (between Parliament Street and Capel Street) hourly from 5.30 to 8.30 from Tuesday 1 to Friday 4 May and Tuesday 8 to Friday 11 May. It's a tour for two people and must be booked in advance.
Room Service is at Wynn's Hotel from 7pm on 9 and 10 May.
Lone Twin's Nine Years can be found in the historic former church of SS Michael and John, Essex Street West (3 minutes walk from Project), at 8pm on 11 and 12 May.
Can You See Me Now? will be online at www.canyouseeemenow.co.uk/dublin from 12-3pm from 9 to 12 May and the live players will be roaming the IFSC at the same time.

Audiodetour: Get Right

hello hello hello

have you ever rehearsed for something?
Like a speech-making rehearsal before a meeting
Or a dance in the mirror like a spice girl

At times in the audiodetour you will be asked to repeat something.
First it will be a rehearsal.
Then you will do it better.
Then you will really do it.
The feeling of getting it right will be a warm one i hope.

C u next week
*maebh
Currently listening: J-Lo Get Right Reggaeton mix (just the chorus)
Oo-er I can't figure you the link code here it is on youtube tho:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsPHKnyYFZQ

Suchen Sie den Lastwagen!

Or find the truck.... A pair of tickets for the performance of your choice of Cargo Sofia - Dublin to the first person to post a picture of the truck on this blog. No digital trickery allowed, I've seen those pictures of ATATs on O'Connell Street. As the truck is parked at CHQ that would be too easy so the picture needs to be of it on the move. Performances are at 7 and 9, Monday to Friday of next week, 30 April to 4 May. The usual rules apply whereby anyone connected with We Are Here is not allowed to enter.

We are here but you can't see us

The Cargo Sofia live observation tank for hungry eyes.
Inside the truck no-one can see you unless light shines directly in. Playing some music makes the city seem composed and orchestrated. It's easy to make up stories, but don't stare too much or your face will stay like that.

Spotted this We Are Here Poster

Spotted this in the loos in a pub in Wexford Street - the word is getting out!

What is a Play For?

The Abbey Talks features two panel discussions with performance groups featured in We Are Here 2.0. With lively debates on the nature of performance with Blast Theory and Rimini Protokoll, asking questions such as Is it theatre? Who is it for? How is it made? How do we view it? Can we join in? All talks take place at the Abbey Theatre.

They've arrived!

From Sofia, Madrid and Berlin they've traveled by land sea and air. Now Ventzislav, Nedyalko, Jörg, Vladimir and Simon are getting ready to make Cargo Sofia-Dublin. The unseasonable sunshine has gone for the moment but they'll probably be too hard at work to notice the weather over the next five days. Right now Jörg is busy making arrangements with the local specialists who will help to create the Dublin tour. Warehouses, truck washes, Dublin Port and possibly even the Port Tunnel will be included in the route. You will also need to keep an eye and an ear out along the route for a woman singing Bulgarian songs. Look out for the truck in its parking spot at CHQ or you might spot it 'rehearsing' its journey around Dublin. Here's a picture from another city to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Cargo Sofia is coming to Dublin

For a taster of what the Dublin version of Cargo Sofia will entail, have a look at this clip from German TV. Sprechen Sie Deutsch? If not, don't worry the performance will be translated in Dublin. More info here.

Audiodetour work and play: it's you

RrrrrrrrrrraA ra!
Glass on the ground like confetti
Spaghetti loops on yer bike around and around
now hop off tie it up walk it again around and around
yes yes we are cooking an audiodetour for yU...

My love,
"Slow down.
Do you see a door?
You have two minutes to spend between here and that door.
In order to make sure you don't arrive too early it is best now to
slow right down
until it seems like someone has pressed fast forward on the people around you. You've got to keep on moving.
In slow motion.
You have one minute to spend between here and that door.
Look at the door as you walk towards it.
You have thirty seconds to spend between here and that door.
You have ten seconds.
5
4
3
2
1
You should be at the door now."

XXXXXXXX
c u soon
*maebh

PS Lone twin...you know that kissing of fingers thing you imagine italian people do when explaining how delicious something is...well its kinda hard to do on a blog...but boys o boys they sure are something...

Green Arrow

WeAreHere2.0 brand mark spotted at large outside the launch of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority 2007 calendar of events yesterday evening at ely-hq.

Leaving our mark

A little location-based marketing exercise we carried out in Docklands. Let us know if you have uploaded any relevant video clips of your own and we will repost the best here on the WAH2.0 blog.
(Don’t worry, we used water-soluble Liquid Chalk, so no buildings were harmed making this video.)

WAH2.0 Flickr Group

We have established a We Are Here 2.0 group on Flickr so that everyone can share any of their related photos: whether taken at the events, around the venues or simply inspired by our five events. So get snapping with your mobile-phone cameras and digital cameras and contribute today at www.flickr.com/groups/wearehere20
It is a public group, so anyone with a Flickr account* can join, get involved and add images. Don't forget to geo-tag your images.
(If you don't have an account, they are free and you can set one up in about five minutes.)

Nine Years

Date: May 11 & May 12
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: SS Michael & John's, Essex Street West (3 mins from Project)
Tickets: €20/€15
Box office: +353 18819613/4 or www.project.ie

Nine years ago two friends decided to see the world. Mainly on foot and latterly on bicycles the two have since travelled the length and breadth of Europe, Scandinavia, North America and Australia. As they moved around the world the two friends, Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters, offered theatrical presentations as a gift to the people they met on their journey. Nine years and seven hundred performances later they have returned home, the journey is complete. This new performance by the internationally acclaimed duo attempts, for the first time, to bring together their entire body of work in one ninety-minute show. The heart-shaped topography of Brussels, the shores of Lake Lucerne, downtown Philadelphia, the North Sea, the Arctic Circle, the blue skies of Lisbon’s July and most of Switzerland will be revisited in a final attempt to make some sense of the world around us. A funny and touching performance about travel and meeting people, saying hello and waving good-bye.

www.lonetwin.com

Gob Squad - Room Service

Dates: May 09 – May 10
Time: 7.00pm - midnight
Venue: Wynn's Hotel, 35-39 Lower Abbey St, Dublin 1
Tickets: €20/€15
Box office: +353 18819613/4 or www.project.ie

"Room Service", a live interactive film, is set in the conference room of a hotel where the audience watch four performers on huge TV monitors set side by side. Each performer is in a separate hotel room, unable to see and hear the audience or each other. It’s late at night, and none of them are sleeping. Instead, they kill time, sharing moments of hope, fear and boredom. Their only contact to the outside world is a phone line that puts them directly in contact with the audience. As the night progresses they call their voyeurs with increasingly absurd and desperate demands in a plea to remain with them and help them make it through the night.

Gob Squad members are currently mentoring Irish artists Brokentalkers on a new performance project, with the support of British Council Ireland.

www.gobsquad.com

The Audio Detourists - Its an Audio Detour: Work and Play

Dates: May 1 – May 4 & May 8 - May 11
Time: Hourly 5.30pm - 8.30pm
Venue: Grattan Bridge Kiosk
Tickets: €10/€8
Box Office: +353 18819613/4 or www.project.ie
Advance booking essential, two places per tour.

"Work and play" is an audio-led tour where participants are guided by instructions given via a set of headphones connected to an MP3 player. Giving an unusual perspective on the working day of people in the financial services and other industries, the tour includes narratives recorded directly from real people around the IFSC. Participants take a route that leads from a kiosk on Grattan Bridge to the IFSC and back, in a choreographed loop. A magical mystery tour with a difference.

Work and Play will depart hourly (17:30 to 20:30) from the kiosk on Grattan Bridge, journeying by Luas from Jervis to Connolly stations, travelling around the IFSC and returning by Luas to the starting point.

Stefan Kaegi (Rimini Protokoll) Cargo Sofia - Dublin

Dates: April 30 – May 4
Time: 7.00pm & 9.00pm (duration 90mins approx)
Venue: Freight truck starting at George's Dock
Tickets:€20/€15
Box Office: +353 18819613/4 or www.project.ie

Supported by Goethe Institut Dublin. www.goethe.de/dublin




Cargo Sofia is a documentary theatre at its best and most engaging. The novel venue for the performance is a freight truck converted to seat an audience of 45 people. Twice nightly, the city becomes the setting for a performance as the audience watches it passing by through the glazed side of the truck. The truck is driven around by two real life Bulgarian truckers who recount the story of their journey from Sofia to Dublin, accompanied by video footage of the journey. The itinerary for the evening will take in visits to people working in and around Dublin port, providing a revealing insight into their daily lives.


Cargo Sofia - Dublin
A Bulgarian truck-ride
by Stefan Kaegi (Rimini Protokoll).

With Ventzislav Borissov and Nedyalko Nedyalkov and others.
Concept/Artistic Direction: Stefan Kaegi
Artistic Direction Dublin: Jörg Karrenbauer
Video: Vladimir Miller
Sound: Simon Begemann
Production management: Bettina Land, Anne Schulz
Production Goethe-Institut Sofia and Hebbel am Ufer Berlin.
In Co-production with Theater Basel, PACT Zollverein Essen, Le-Maillon Strasbourg and THEOREM, association supported by the Culture 2000 program of the European Union.
Supported by Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, sponsored by Germany, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Cultural Foundation, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung and Forum Goethe-Institut.

Can you see me now? Blast Theory

Dates: May 9 and May 12
Time: 12.00pm - 3.00pm
Venue: George's Dock, IFSC and online
Play at: www.canyouseemenow.co.uk/dublin

Blast Theory’s Can You See Me Now? is a chase game played live online and on the streets. Online players are dropped at random locations into a virtual map of the IFSC while Blast Theory runners search for you in the very real streets using GPS, tracking your avatar down as you flee online. With up to 20 people playing online at a time, players can exchange tactics and send messages to Blast Theory.

We are currently looking for runners - for more information post a comment.

www.blasttheory.co.uk

Can You See Me Now? won the Golden Nica for Interactive Art at the 2003 Prix Ars Electronica and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2002.
Can You See Me Now? is a collaboration with the Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham and is supported by Arts Council England.

Descriptions of the five events

We are getting the traditional marketing out of the way first by posting the standard descriptions of all five events in We Are Here 2.0. Enjoy.

Announcing We Are Here 2.0

“We Are Here 2.0" returns with a series of site-specific urban artworks and interventions exploring location, connectivity and emergent technologies in performance. The various projects of We Are Here 2.0 touch on some of the fundamental shifts in the texture of Docklands and of Dublin life: from an increasingly virtual engagement with the world, to the competition between work and play and the experiences of new communities. We Are Here 2.0 is an ongoing collababoration between the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Project Arts Centre.

Which is all fine, but what does that really mean? Hopefully this blog will help answer that question by taking you behind the scenes of We Are Here 2.0 and allowing you to participate collaborate and interact in various ways.