See A Site-Specific Performance In The Abandoned Aldwych Tube Station

By Janan Jay Last edited 138 months ago

Last Updated 29 April 2013

See A Site-Specific Performance In The Abandoned Aldwych Tube Station


Celebrate the 5th birthday of the London Contemporary Orchestra in typically innovative city style: in an abandoned Tube station, on top of a big hill, and in a derelict industrial complex. Imagined Occasions, billed as a ‘site-responsive, immersive performance’ focusing on composer Claude Vivier, will run on just three occasions over the next year, in the following sexy and exciting locations:

  • 24 May: Aldwych Underground station (our personal favourite)
  • 22 August: Top of Primrose Hill followed by the Roundhouse, Camden
  • 3 October: Oval Space, Bethnal Green

Spectators are encouraged to explore, create, listen and learn in this engaging series. Kicking off in May with the magnificent backdrop of the disused underground station, the central theme of urban existence is weaved throughout the event, accentuated with digital images of the daily commute by visual artist Kira Zhigalina, and featuring Vivier’s last, and incomplete, Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (‘Do You Believe in the Immortality of the Soul?’).

Primrose Hill provides the setting in August for a showcase of Vivier’s Zipangu, where the concept of death and transcendence take prominence under an Invisible Structure by Claudia Moseley and Edward Shuster, commissioned especially for the performance. A promenade around Chalk Farm to the sounds of Edmund Finnis climaxes in a rendition of the works by Stockhausen at the Roundhouse.

The Oval Space, Bethnal Green sees the LCO’s final performance in the autumn. The derelict buildings that complement the industrial complex are the perfect environment to consider the concept of ‘life’ after death.

This is an imaginatively created trio of performances that are significantly more then passive enjoyment, allowing you to engage intellectually, conceptually and emotionally. No wharfing down ice-cream and falling asleep in a comfy seat for you. No sir.

Tickets are on sale today (29 April) for the Aldwych performance: £10-£35. See website for other two performances.