Don’t Touch this Selfish Mind
The Richard Burton Theatre, Atmosphere’s Festival, RWCMD 2022
Composed and directed - Jake Thorpe
Set and costume design - Ania Levy
Performers - Mary Johnson, Ewan Smith, Siobhan Waters
Lighting design - Andy Collins and Ania Levy
Photographer - David Tillotson
Don’t Touch This Selfish Mind was a performance of Jake Thorpe’s new album, accompanied by live musicians at the RWCMD Atmospheres Festival 2022 in the Richard Burton Theatre.
“Fusing 1960s and 1970s samples, this vibrant project narrates an internal conflict - breaking up with a former self and learning to live with the new - all through the lens of a 1960s living room.”
Reference images and Design:
This project took place over 2 weeks with no budget. Sourcing set and costume was key in achieving this - my design needed to be flexible and achieved by one person. After inital conversations with Jake, who devised, directed and performed within the production, we decided to stage this performance in a living room. Centric to the performance was a tv, watched by Jake whilst musicians performed towards the audience. Don’t Touch This Mind heavily featured samples from 60s and 70s break-up albums, and the design reflected this through ambiguously retro furniture, tv and costumes.
The quick time-frame allowed room for creative play in the creating of this performance and also provided me with the opportunity to design lighting that was acheived by Andy Collins during tech. The short time we had to create this performance meant that we worked collaboratively, spontaneously and reactively, resulting in a fresh and improvised performance that was an absolute joy to work on.
Programme and poster design:
Production Photos
Production Photos
