Imagine a beach—you within it, or better: watching from above – the burning sun, sunscreen and bright bathing suits and sweaty palms and legs. Tired limbs sprawled lazily across a mosaic of towels. Imagine the occasional squeal of children, laughter, the sound of an ice cream van in the distance. The musical rhythm of waves on the surf, a soothing sound (on this particular beach, not elsewhere). The crinkling of plastic bags whirling in the air, their silent floating, jellyfish-like, below the waterline. The rumble of a volcano, or of an airplane, or a speedboat. Then a chorus of songs: everyday songs, songs of worry and of boredom, songs of almost nothing. And below them: the slow creaking of an exhausted Earth, a gasp. — Lucia Pietroiusti*
The long, international tour of SUN & SEA—the Golden Lion-winning opera by Lina Lapelytė (composer) and Vaiva Grainytė (librettist), directed by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė—continues at the Albany, the performing arts center in southeast London. Presented by LIFT, the Albany, and Serpentine, this production is part of LIFT 2022, Back to Earth, and We Are Lewisham.
See link below for details.
Through July 10
The Albany
Douglas Way, Lewisham, London
*Lucia Pietroiusti is the curator of Sun & Sea.
Lina Lapelytė and Vaiva Grainytė, Sun & Sea, installation views (5), Los Angeles, 2021, photographs by Elon Shoenholz. Images © Elon Shoenholz, courtesy of the photographer, the Hammer, MOCA, and CAP UCLA.