What Remains

Written by David Paul Jones in collaboration with Ben Harrison

4th – 28th August 2011

Part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Made in Scotland Showcase

Between the dusk & the dark, what terrors lie?

Celebrating their tenth year at the Edinburgh August festivals, Fringe heroes Grid Iron and award-winning Scottish composer David Paul Jones take you on a journey through life. And death.

What happens when our spirit leaves? What mark is left on the world?

And what are the connections between the human body and the body of a piece of music? Is the precision required of a doctor or surgeon the same as that required to realise a Ravel Concerto?

As the sustain pedal is released on the dying notes of a sonata, what remains?

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What The Press Said

“Played out in rooms around the medical school, where the bones displayed in a glass cage are arranged in scales, this latest piece from Grid Iron goes eyeball to eyeball with the horror genre and is lush with music to murder by. David Paul Jones gives a convincingly wild-eyed performance as the mad maestro who plays the piano with feelings he doesn’t offer his victims.”

The Guardian

“What does remain is the very considerable musicianship of David Paul Jones and his ability to hold an audience almost literally spellbound. As ever, Grid Iron’s production values remain impeccably high.”

Edinburgh Guide★★★★

“Grid Iron, the kings and queens of Scottish site-responsive theatre, have created a brand-new promenade piece performed by one live performer, David Paul Jones, with a supporting cast of a thousand ghosts and sighs… his extraordinary and beautiful musical compositions stay with us throughout the journey… It’s a melee of marvellous sounds and – yes – haunting images; a wonderful marriage of sight and sound – and indeed of site and sound! There’s beauty in the darkness, and humour too. It’s a show that will remain with me a long time, I’m sure.”

Total Theatre

“showcases Grid Iron’s effortless mastery of the promenade format.”

The Skinny★★★

“a sustained hour of bravura performance in which Jones, with designer Ali Maclaurin, sets about deconstructing and undermining the fierce patriarchal structures of authority through which learning was traditionally imparted… a rich series of musical interludes and haunting physical installations.”

The Scotsman★★★

“There are some interesting ideas at play here – the links between bodily and musical perfection and (im)perfection, obsession and Oedipus… The installations are beautifully detailed and the setting is stunning.”

The Independent★★★

“There is something in all of us that relishes a scary story, and Ben Harrison’s production for Grid Iron certainly doesn’t stint in this regard… David Paul Jones’ deranged piano maestro makes for a splendid grimacing, sneering high camp baroque villain, flitting through the successive site-specific locales as a menacing shadowy presence.”

The List★★★

“Composer/performer David Paul Jones is convincing as the mad Prendergast who stalks the corridors and appears seemingly from nowhere. His piano playing is impeccable – and playful – and his soulful voice floats on the air haunting us with its beauty even as his behaviour becomes increasingly deranged, His eyes are mesmerising as they stare ours down and follow us everywhere. Designer Ali Maclaurin has constructed a set of installations that are intriguing and stand alone as works of art.”

Fringe Review★★★

“Grid Iron sends a chill down the spine with a haunting site-specific theatre and music installation that cast the audience as potential victims of a deranged piano teacher, portrayed with skin-crawling gusto by David Paul Jones.”

Metro★★★★

Edinburgh Guide★★★★

“site-specific magicians Grid Iron take us off-site and into the shadows of Edinburgh University Medical School’s Anatomy Department for What Remains, a darkly camp piece of musical grand guignol that’s part installation, part psycho-killer case study… deliciously delivered.”

The Herald★★★★

“What Remains explores the idea that music can create madness as well as joy… with great use of the medical school’s eerie spaces, dark corridors and Gothic skeletons, combined with a chilling soundtrack, What Remains certainly stays with you.”

Fest★★★★★

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Production Team

Composer/Sound Designer/Performer:
David Paul Jones

Writers:
David Paul Jones in collaboration with Ben Harrison

Director:
Ben Harrison

Producer:
Judith Doherty

Finance & Development Manager:
Deborah Crewe

Set & Costume Designer:
Ali Maclaurin

Lighting Designer:
Sergey Jakovsky

Production Manager:
Fiona Fraser

Technical Manager:
Roy Fairhead

Sound Engineer:
Simon Kasprowicz

Stage Manager:
Kara Jackson

Stage Manager:
Anne E Page

Production Assistant:
Lee Davis

Design Assistant:
Alice Wilson

Print Design:
Emma Quinn

View Our Programme

To read more information about the show, including the Director’s Note and team biographies, have a look through our production programme.

Download our programme pdf here

Supporters

The production was kindly supported by the following…

Past Productions

The productions are listed in chronological order with the most recent first.

If you want to know more about our work or just want to get in touch to say hi!
You can reach us by clicking here.

What Remains

What The Press Said

Production Team

View Our Programme

Supporters

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