Theatre
of mystery, imagination and the fantastique
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SHADOW HOUSE PITS is theatre born from the shadows and cracks in contemporary culture. World cultures and societies need injections of imagination and intuition in order to survive crises. Shadow House PITS offers an alternative laboratory and performance arena utilizing theatre, dance, digital/photographics on-stage, on-screen, on-line through which human beings may explore the human condition into the very psyche of cultural and personal expression. The mysteries of life and social / cultural interaction are the subject of our exploration.
The use of rites, rituals, symbolic action have all been used to evoke the powers of nature or draw focus for areas of experience that are not easily defined or explained. Sex, power, love, hate, survival, acceptance and rejection and the need for some representation of a paternal god and an all embracing goddess are themes that appear in virtually all layers of art throughout history. However, new technologies pre-empt new modes of expression.
We wish to:
create and present mixed media, theatre and dance events and works of visual art capable of stimulating personal and cultural challenge and affirmation of humanity;
promote and stimulate new writing and works of art that inspire local cultural, spiritual and creative exploration in form and content;
publish radical and / or other non-mainstream writings in theatre arts expression, communication and philosophy;
establish an education unit capable of stimulating community knowledge and action in theatre and multi-media challenge to orthodox mass media presentation;
establish research and experimentation in metaphorical and spiritual cross-cultural referencing for theatrical presentation and audience perceptions;
provide cross media links in the development of content for live on-stage, on-screen and on-line presentation.
Theatre is being largely abandoned by those charged with its propagation. Twenty-five years of chasing short term goals and monetary outcomes has left theatre bereft of courage, ideals and the energy to live its purpose and function. It's very own proponents don't believe in it enough. Without belief, there is little energy to re-invest. And so we see the phenomena of a theatre constantly chasing its tail for the next big thing and the next big idea to make it happen. It's main inspirations are coming from novels and works created for other media. Universities train actors to serve the vanities of screen directors and producers intent on serving the interests of advertisers pushing their products. The whole notion of theatre sits uncomfortably with the dominant world view of reality being a constantly packaged commodity. Unlike film, the package can never be easily controlled. There are so many variables. To achieve a return on investment, the ticket price is very high and so theatre becomes an object of elite pursuit.
SHADOW HOUSE PITS offers and presents exciting theatre scripts which elucidate the shadows and invisible binds that can both connect and destroy the sanctity of our connection to the universe and to each other. And look around. What are the agenderists of the world doing? If not protecting their islands of insecurity against intellectual and rational challenge!
Artists have long given extensive credence to the shadow. Long before C.G. Jung, Shakespeare described the shadow as:
"This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine."
Jung spoke of it as:
"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag thwarting our most well-meant intentions."
Venture into our site. Read NEWS of what is happening for SHADOW HOUSE PITS. Have a SCREAM indulging a little philosophical gazing with essays and articles about theatre and art. Spend a moment on our MANIFESTO. It's a conspiracy of Shadows. Visit our beautiful GALLERY. Find out a little about the HISTORY of this unique theatre group. And why not LINK into some great sites that we visit regularly for inspiration and companionship. Have a say about our site or theatre / arts in general through our easy "email us" moving icon on each page.
Participate in a WORKSHOP on the Actor's MESH: the 4 States of Artaud.
Check out our exciting extreme theatre scripts available for performing and FREE for reading. Just click on the title for a sample of a theatre script and synopsis:
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This site is updated weekly, and in most weeks, on a daily basis. The general tone is influenced by the Jungian concept of the "shadow" and its evidence in both the personal and cultural psyche. We see no contradiction in accepting the spiritual, material and erotic manifestations of human existence and behaviour. This may place us at odds with some accepted social practices. However, we trust you will find points of convergence with our views and approaches and we would very much like to hear from you. A brief glimpse at excerpts from ACTING ARTAUD presented by Shadow House PITS in Sydney and Canberra in 2004. The production featured two works by Antonin Artaud: The Spurt of Blood and To Have Done With The Judgement Of God ... plus Exorcism From The Cell by Shadow House PITS
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