Ross Sutherland: Standby for Tape Backup

Ross Sutherland - Standby for Tape BackupThe ability to see patterns is the ability to create a story: a narrative, however simple, explaining the world we witness. Sometimes this ability turns against us and we see patterns where there are none, sometimes, as in this show, we can overwrite old stories with new ones; through our imagination we can transform and subvert old images, experiencing them afresh.

Delivered through spoken text and an old VHS tape, this show could be simplicity itself, however its performer beautifully overlays his understanding of the world onto the contents of the video through which he loops and skips.

Thus the famous opening credits of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air becomes a fractured hymn of loss. The cheesiest of adverts a litany of anger and frustration with the Sisyphean horror of the working week. The show is a vast pop culture re-imagining where the past pours forth and crashes on the banks of the present.

The delivery is present and authentic, vital, and imbued with intelligence and playful humor. From wiped hard drives to stoic stupidity in the face of death, this show with its vortex-like circularity draws us in with an irresistible force. A exploration of meaning and memory delivered by an artist at the top of his game.

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About Edward Rapley

Artist, actor, performer, and writer. A proud member of residence.org in Bristol. Trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier. He has had the good fortune to be supported by Arnolfini, Bristol Old Vic and The Basement in the creation of some of his four solo shows. In his writing for Total Theatre he attempts to met each show on its own level and respond to the thoughts and dreams it sets off in his head.