 70 years ago this year a small
defenceless Spanish Basque town was attacked from the early afternoon till the late
evening. Hospitals and schools were bombed. The airplanes flew so low that they machine
gunned anyone running for safety. The motive behind this barbaric attack was purely to
gain media attention. It succeeded within three days of the attack Pablo Picasso, the
famous French artist, produced a gigantic painting ‘Guernica’. Guernica
Falls tells the story of that horrific day through the medium of theatre. Influenced by
Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ and from real life accounts Guernica Falls provides an
interpretation of the horrors of modern war fare. The narration is delivered through
vocals and percussion. The absence of dialogue assists with its universal accessibility.
Abound Theatre Company is a new group of U.W.E, Bristol
drama graduates. ATC presents a free performance of Guernica Falls, a piece written and
directed by Leah Bennett, a young aspiring theatre practitioner who is influenced by such
companies as ‘Forced Entertainment’ and ‘Knee High’.
“I wrote Guernica
Falls not to explore the reasons behind that day but to simply pass on the story. The
tragedy of Guernica shows what modern war fare consisted of and 70 years on it seems that
not much has changed.” Leah Bennett |
