Lay Hold to the Softest Throat

Co-presented by FTA On May 29th, there will be a discussion after the show with the artists. MIXED MYSTERY AND VIBRATIONS Lay Hold to the Softest Throat is the Shakespearean-sounding title of a choreography for voice with three performers, an affirmation of Ellen Furey’s interest in everything that emanates from the throat. Whether it’s a surreal text, a siren song, or a nasal voice, all things coexist in the harmony of dissonance, sidestepping the logic of meaning, and together generating a space of quivering care. By reviving director Jerzy Grotowski’s “holy actor”, a figure she heckles tenderly, Furey has some serious fun bringing together all the values and qualities she considers sacred, disparate though they may be. Lay Hold to the Softest Throat is lyrical communion, it is childlike play in adult bodies, it is cardboard props, committed physicality, medieval deities in 80s wigs.... The show is a mysteriously vibrant journey, guaranteed! — E. R. Premiered at the Festival TransAmériques at La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines, Montreal, on May 28, 2023.