SHEATH AND KNIFE
"Well, my race is run beneath the sun,
The devil is waiting for me,
For I did murder that poor little boy,
Who’s name was H. Docherty."
The young lovers Ciara and Henry Dochtery dream of a life in the city, far away from the claustrophobia and violence of the rural Scottish community they grew up in. In silence, they prepare their escape, but when Ciara becomes pregnant, she starts to ask herself whether her idea of freedom matches that of her lover. Eventually, after unexpected oppression and multiple attempts to find a way out, an ultimatum emerges: love, or emancipation? Both is impossible.
Inspired by Scots-Irish murder ballads and musical genres such as folk, drone and doom, Sheath and Knife is a worker’s fable that portrays the trinity of the victim, the perpetrator and the observer, and how those roles constantly overlap and switch. In short encounters, memories, visions and live drone-folk ballads, the dark depths of of a life scarred by endless misery and woe unfold; gasping for freedom, she is prepared to go as far as is necessary.
Produced by LENZ and Frascati Productions.
Premièred 21st October 2021 at Frascati Theatre, Amsterdam.
CREDITS
conceived by LENZ
performance & live music Teun Donders and Marit Hooijschuur
direction, text, scenography, lighting design & live music Erasmus Mackenna
dramaturgy Roel Pronk
composition & musical direction Simme Wouters
production management Emma van Zandvoort (creation) and Tosca Schutte (revival)
technical production & operation Attila Nemeth
coaching Joeri Vos
with thanks to Maatschappij Discordia and Julia Diepstraten
PRESS
https://www.theaterkrant.nl/recensie/sheath-and-knife/lenz/
PAST PERFORMANCES
October 21st 2021 - - - Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
October 22nd 2021 - - - Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
October 23rd 2021 - - - Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
February 16th 2023 - - - Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
February 17th 2023 - - - Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
February 18th 2023 - - - Frascati, Amsterdam (NL)
