a black background with a white powdery explosion
photo credit Susana Chicó
Performance

Materia

Andrea Salustri (Italy)
4 performances between Thu 23 - Sat 25 May 2024, various times
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In a magical world of objects, somewhere between contemporary circus, choreography and beguiling physical theatre, Materia is a duet between performer and polystyrene

Born in Rome and now based in Berlin, Andrea Salustri practiced object and fire manipulation as a street artist before studying contemporary dance and choreography. On stage, a man alone with polystyrene panels and spheres, Salustri now brings all his skills together in Materia, where he shapes, manipulates and transforms the apparently lifeless in order to reveal its secret vitality. 

By turn exquisite and powerful, The Guardian called it ‘… a symphony made from imaginative use of this most basic material. It makes you think about climate catastrophe with its nods to earth, water, wind and fire; but it also makes you marvel at humankind’s sheer imaginative ingenuity.’ 

Materia has developed beyond the stage, to the creation of artworks made from the waste collected at the end of every performance and with the search for total sustainability through an original form of composting. 

Trailer

‘exquisitely beautiful, strangely moving hour of object theatre...great for kids, mesmerising for grown-ups’
Three Weeks
‘a precise, monochrome show that feeds the imagination: each scene begins as a careful negotiation between man, plastic, and wind, but pays off like a magic trick'
The Scotsman
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Production photos

Co-produced by PERPLX Programmed in partnership with Attenborough Centre for the Performing Arts

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