About

Conceived in response to the themes of conflict and desire in Bertolt Brecht’s stark drama, In the Jungle of Cities (1924), this darkly satirical dance-theatre work reckons with the seductive and powerful forces that move us everyday.

In The Sky Hangs Down Too Close, Carpenter develops arresting images that recall-often comically-the bizarre and shifting ways in which power articulates itself in both public and private interactions. Creating the work in collaboration with a cast of seven veteran ensemble members, Carpenter focuses on the concept of “unmotivated struggle”-a key theme for Brecht-as a way to understand the ways in which we move and are moved. In this, the piece critiques patterns within the social world and simultaneously recognizes the physical labor and symbolic potency of the dancing body.

CREDITS

PREMIERE: 2003, Vittum Theater 2005, PAC/Edge, 2006, Athenaeum Theatre

CO-CREATORS: 

DEVISED IN COLLABORATION WITH AN ENSEMBLE OF SEVEN PERFORMERS: 

ORIGINAL MUSIC: 

LIGHTING DESIGN: 

STAGE MANAGEMENT: 

SOUND ENGINEER: