The Debris Field
The Debris Field: Salvaging the Titanic in Word Sound & Image is a multi-media performance born out of a shared obsession with the making and the sinking of RMS Titanic, devised with my poetry comrades Chris McCabe and Simon Barraclough. Here is a piece that I wrote for The Island Review about the making of the show, about ships, wrecks, ice and icebergs, about poetry and about that tragic and evocative vessel Titanic herself.
A brief description of the show:
The Debris Field is a multi-media production written and performed by poets Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe. It was first performed on 14 April 2012, the centenary of the sinking of RMS Titanic. The evocative poetic text is accompanied by original music from Oli Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative, and film by Jack Wake-Walker. The poets take you on a resonant tour of the cultural debris of this iconic event, exploring ideas of luxury and labour; courage and folly; life and loss; and human ambition in the face of nature’s power. A key historic event explored with striking poetic, musical and visual impact.
The premiere took place at the British Film Institute on 14 April 2012, the centenary of the sinking of the ship. See Fiona Moore's review on her Displacement blog and Mark Reid's take on the production in his blog Mitchell Reids in America.
After the premiere, the show travelled to the Ledbury Poetry Festival and Liverpool (where many of the crew came from). The Rich Mix hosted another London show in February 2013 and Simon Barraclough and Isobel Dixon performed a two-hander version which headlined the Dunbar Filmpoem Festival in August 2013. Discussions are under way for other performances and the eventual aim is to perform the show in Belfast (where the ship was built), Southampton (the port from which she sailed), New York (where she was headed) and Halifax, Novia Scotia (where many of the bodies are buried).
Do contact me via the Contact page if you're interested in hosting a performance.