August 2011 – Throw the Switches
5th, 6th and 7th August, open 7.30 pm till late
This August TROVE presents a weekend of performance and film based on the works of Dudley born film-maker, James Whale.
Best known for his 1930s Horror classics such as Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein, Whale worked in the theatre as an actor, set designer and stage manager before directing plays including ‘Journey’s End’, which toured to New York and attracted the attention of Hollywood film producers, landing Whale a contract with Paramount Pictures. He later signed to Universal where he made ‘Waterloo Bridge’ a film based on a Broadway play about a chorus girl who becomes a prostitute. Throughout his career Whale often chose the ‘outsider’ as the protagonist in his films and he himself was openly gay throughout his career, living with his partner, David Lewis, at a time where many chose to hide their true sexuality.
His films, often theatrical in style, also challenged the conventions of the time in many ways. He was a trailblazer who has inspired film-makers and artists alike still to this day.
Program;
Friday
7:30 Performance – Kate Spence (Human Puppet, come and pull the strings)
8:00 Talk – Darrell Buxton
8:30 Film screening – ‘Frankenstein’
Saturday
7:30 Performance – ‘Frankenstein 2099’
Richard Peel presents a short theatrical remix of the Frankenstein myth, starring George Marchant as both the monster and the creator. Using the latest innovations in mime technology, the classic tale of alienation and revenge is blasted into the far future. And set on Mars.
8:15 Film screening – Bride of Frankenstein
Sunday
7:30 Short Films – Two shorts by artists Anne Guest and Darren Banks and a special screening of the 1910 silent Frankenstein film by J. Searle Dawley
8:15 Film screening – The Invisible Man
There will also be refreshments straight from the lab on each evening.
