a solo performance by Sylvia Rimat

Really interesting in terms of being a participative piece. We were all sitting in the auditorium watching performance art but we were all very actively engaged in this. And it did feel like the choises we were making as an audience were actually affecting the outcome of the performance. Deborah Dignam, British Council (Dec 10)

The skill of Rimat's performance lies in the way she marries the magic of the theatre with the fantasies of the virtual. a_n review by Mary Paterson (Jan 11) 

I really enjoyed the implication of the audience, the complicity that is required at some level in all performance, being re-presented and played with. Rich, layered and delightful. Thanks. Audience member, Inbetween Time Festival (Dec 10)

The audience enters a bare space. A performer, Sylvia Rimat, sits on the floor with a laptop. The laptop is connected to a projection on the back wall. There’s also a drum kit and a sharp knife. The following performance takes place in the performer's mind, is being typed live on the laptop and can be read on the projection screen. The audience follows the performance, that is happening right now, right here, in the mind of the performer. 

The fragmented narrative oscillates between the performer in the blue jeans and a  woman in a brown fluffy full body bear costume and bright red high heels. Something evil will happen tonight.

The audience is being addressed by the written text on screen and slowly starts to be interwoven with the imagined performance. Thoughts and intentions of individuals and the audience as a group are being described in a humorous way. Audience members are asked to step in and carry out simple actions to help bringing the imagined performance alive.

Suddenly the man with the bright yellow shoes and black glasses discovers the knife on stage. THERE’S A KNIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He goes towards it, picks it up and smiles deviously.

He takes it back into the audience crowd and passes it around.

CAREFUL!!!!! It is VERY SHARP!!

Imagine Me To Be There is a performance experiment testing out conventions of performance, of watching and our imagination. It plays with stereotypical fragements of narration we all are familiar with (red high heels, a knife, flickering lights) and with our urge to build up stories. Meanwhile the performance seeks to explore how an experience of presence can be hightened whilst the actual performance is not present at all. How does the ‘real’ interfere with the ‘imagined’ and can there be a point where the two are inseparably interlinked?

Previous showings:
_Show Time at Riverside Studios, London (2011)
_Hatch:Fresh at Embrace Arts, Leicester (2011)
_Inbetween Time Festival 10, Bristol (2010)
_Practice at Salisbury Arts Centre (2010)
_Frisch Eingetroffen at Zeitraumexit Mannheim/ Germany (2010)
_Factoria de Fuegos in Vitoria-Gasteiz/ Spain (2010)
_Testing Grounds at Permanent Gallery Brighton (2010)
An early work-in-progress was presented at:
_Scratch-Festival at Battersea Arts Centre London (2009)
_Residence in Residence at Tobacco Factory Bristol (2009)


A short video trailer of the show, documented by Kate Rowles, was presented at Yokohama Triennale 2011/ Ginko Pier as part of Squartist installation.


Imagine Me To be There is available for booking. A marketing pack and detailed Tech Specs can be sent tou you on request! 

Supported by Arts Council England, Inbetween Time Productions, Battersea Arts Centre and Testing Grounds