Hello.

Next month, I will be premiering my new stage work in Germany and Austria. Links below to tickets for Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Vienna’s Volkstheater.

Lots to say about this new work… It’s an ambitious undertaking, commissioned by Paul Wallfisch, musical director of Volkstheater (under the new direction of Kay Voges), and I’m blessed to be surrounded by exceptional international collaborators, so here we go…

This new multi-disciplinary project is an adaptation (hijacking?) of English director Joanna Hogg’s 2019 feature film ‚The Souvenir, Part 1‘, a coming-of-age story set in Knightsbridge, London in 1983.

I’m especially excited to perform with two Glasgow musicians whose first-hand knowledge of the film’s time period, the 80s, have shaped this work: James Kirk (ex-Orange Juice) and Andy Alston (Del Amitri, currently on tour in Germany).

We will have a special guest in Vienna: my old pal Frank Willens, Berlin-based American dancer with Tino Sehgal, Ami Garmon, Peter Stamer.

Join us for a musical deep dive into the dark underbelly of 1980s England and to perhaps reflect on what has changed since – and what will never change – in the old King’s country.

It’ll be good to see you! Been a while..

m

Do. 27.10. DÜSSELDORF

https://kit-cafe.com/event/27-10-marianne-dissard/

Fr. 28.10 STUTTGART


https://laboratorium-stuttgart.de



Sa. 29.10 VIENNA

https://www.volkstheater.at

The visuals projected on stage are black-and-white photographs I’ve taken in Knightsbridge, London’s most expensive neighborhood, home to numerous embassies, oligarchs’ mansions, and superstore Harrods. This tiny neighborhood bordered by Hyde Park, Kensington, and Buckingham Palace is where Joanna Hogg’s film (featuring Tilda Swinton and her daughter) takes place.

Musical director Raphael Mann, stage designer Bastien Forestier, and myself have weaved these photographs with our interpretation of the film’s 1980s soundtrack (Robert Wyatt, Bronski Beat, Bauhaus, The Psychedelic Furs, The Specials, Gary Numan, Yellowman, The Ruts,…) to create a vivid and anguished tapestry investigating the UK’s drift over four decades towards more disparities of wealth and power.

James Kirk is a founding member with Edwyn Collins of the Scottish post-punk pioneers Orange Juice.

It was James who wrote ‘Felicity’ as well as ‘Wan Light’, two of the high points from the band’s 1982 debut album ‘You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever’ on Postcard Records. In 2010, James released his solo album ‘You Can Make It If You Boogie’. On a side note of pop lore, James, the band, is named after James Kirk.

To quote Pitchfork, Orange Juice is „one of the key antecedents for the indie pop/rock aesthetic– in particular, the strain that trades in jangly, shambolic guitars, a healthy obsession with the Velvet Underground, and self-deprecating lyrics. While Mission of Burma and Hüsker Dü were laying the groundwork and setting the bar high for the U.S. indie rock sound and style of the 1980s, Orange Juice and fellow Scots Josef K, Aztec Camera, and the major-label Altered Images were shaping the decade’s UK model.“

Andy Alston is long-standing multi-instrumentalist for Del Amitri, a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1980 and currently on tour in Germany. Andy has a solo project with James named Crooked Timbers.

Raphael Mann is an English producer, multi-instrumentalist, and solo artist. He produced Marianne Dissard’s 2022 covers album ‘Rappel’, made several of her music videos, and wrote forewords to both the ‘On a Good Day You Can See France’ photo exhibition and photobook. His band The Silver Panda has a new album this week, and he regularly releases solo recordings under his own name.

​Bastien Forestier, French stage designer and artist, has staged my 2015 European tour, my two solo photography installations (Paris 2022 and Glasgow 2022). Bastien works essentially in French theatres as set designer (Théâtre du Châtelet, Théâtre du Capitole ​of​ Toulouse​), in film production with director Stéphane Olivié-Bisson​. In 2012, he becomes prop master for theater legend​​ J​érôme Savary​. He also creates for the opera and his accessories have been featured in several magazines, including ​Vogue ​in Peter Lindbergh​’s series of photographs​ ​with​ Milla Jovovich.​ IG

Frank Willens is a Berlin-based dancer/actor/performer/choreographer/collaborator/lover/musician. IG