Source Material to Present LOW SKIES DIVINE

Source Material will present the World Premiere of Low Skies Divine, an abstract sound-based performance piece inspired by William Shakespeare's King Lear, created by director Samantha Shay and composer Áslaug Magnúsdóttir.

Inspired by the musicality of Shakespeare, and director Samantha Shay's own childhood memories, Low Skies Divine is an enveloping kinesphere of music, language, and time-traveling emotions. Much like the Elizabethan audiences Shakespeare originally wrote for, Low Skies Divine is a theatre performance built by sound. Excavating the deep wounds of personal and intergenerational trauma, the heavenly disorientation of healing, and dreams of future memories, Low Skies Divine catapults the audience into a blurred narrative that conjures a multiplicity of meaning within the listener, where memories are personified and live within us.

Each performance will be live-streamed on Zoom, alongside a supporting visual collage from the live performance on which this piece is based, Monument (or, King Lear), which was presented by Source Material in 2019 at Bootleg Theatre in LA and HERE Arts Center in NYC.

Samantha Shay is a director of theatre and film, performer, and movement artist. She carries a deep interest in interdisciplinary work, influenced by diverse artistic lineages rooted in physical theatre and dance. Her work is multidimensional, performing on the body like a welcomed hallucination. She is the founding artistic director of Source Material, through which her theatrical work has been produced at The Grotowski Institute, Theatre Olympics, RedCat, and HERE Arts (New York). Her films have screened at numerous festivals, including BAFTA and Academy Award qualifying festivals Flickers', HollyShorts, and CineQuest. In 2016 her piece, 'of Light', gained international attention when it was developed under the mentorship of Marina Abramović, and praised by Björk in The Guardian. From 2016-2019 Samantha's piece, 'A Thousand Tongues' toured Europe and the US, receiving nominations for Gríman (Icelandic Theatre Awards) including Most Innovative Performance. She recently directed the digitally-devised play 'In These Uncertain Times', in response to COVID-19's impact on artists. The New York Times described it as "a lyrical essay, poetic, emotive and fluid,". In 2021-2022 Samantha will be a guest and researcher at the Tanztheater Wuppertal, aiming to discover how Pina Bausch's legacy radiates in the world today. www.samantha-shay.com

Áslaug Magnúsdóttir is a composer and performer with extensive experience working internationally in music and the arts. She holds a BA degree in electronic composition from the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. There she emphasized on music programming, building interactive systems with noise-based behaviors. Today she creates exaggerated sad realities where movement acts like extension of the music. Utilizing the technology already known to create a different experience, beyond the traditional form. The music has a strong theatrical side to it and among her compositional interest is finding new performative strategies. Composed music and performed all around the world with various bands and projects such as Samaris, JFDR, ZAAR, Source Material, EKKI minna duo, Bridget Ferrill and Mia Ghabarou. Mixed and produced music for dance and theatre performances. She is currently working on an album release under the name PAMELA ANGELA with Mia Ghabarou.

Source Material is an evolving nomadic group of artists carrying diverse backgrounds and lineages in artistic practice. Founded in 2014 by Artistic Director Samantha Shay, Source Material began as a container for her desire to broaden the aesthetic horizons of performance. Source Material is an ever-evolving constellation of adventurous and thoughtful creators from many corners of the world.

Source Material's theatre work is anchored in reverence for the classical canon, often adapting literature-based performances with highly original staging. The work has been described as visually stunning, musically driven, physical, ritualistic, and interdisciplinary. Source Material has presented work at The Grotowski Institute, RedCat, and HERE Arts (NYC), and has toured to several US cities, Iceland, Sweden, and the UK. The company is based between the US (New York and Los Angeles) and Iceland (Reykjavik). www.sourcematerial.art

The show will premiere on Shakespeare's birthday with online performances on Friday, April 23rd: 3 PM LA // 6 PM NYC // 10 PM London & Reykjavik // 11 PM Europe Saturday; Saturday, April 24th: 10 AM LA //1 PM NYC // 6 PM London & Reykjavik// 7 PM Europe; Sunday, April 25th: 10 AM LA // 1 PM NYC // 6 PM London & Reykjavik // 7 PM Europe; Friday, April 30th: 3 PM LA // 6 PM NYC // 10 PM London & Reykjavik // 11 PM Europe; Saturday, May 1st: 10 AM LA // 1 PM NYC // 6 PM London & Reykjavik // 7 PM Europe; Sunday, May 2nd: 10 AM LA // 1 PM NYC // 6 PM London & Reykjavik // 7 PM Europe; Friday, May 7th: 3 PM LA // 6 PM NYC // 10 PM London & Reykjavik // 11 PM Europe; Saturday, May 8th: 10 AM LA // 1 PM NYC // 6 PM London & Reykjavik // 7 PM Europe; Sunday May 9th: 10 AM LA // 1 PM NYC // 6 PM London & Reykjavik // 7 PM Europe. Admission is by donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. Tickets are available for advance purchase at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/low-skies-divine-tickets-146743326239. The performance will run approximately 50 minutes, with no intermission.

Photo credit: Victoria Sendra

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