EMPTY ROOM TOUR PRESS RELEASE

Monday 12^th of March 2019
ON TOUR – Addiction, love and loss explored in first solo show by Little Bulb Associate Artist Miriam Gould
For immediate release

• Theatre maker and musician Miriam Gould (Little Bulb Associate Artist) tours her first solo work, Empty Room, to London, Exeter and Margate
• Semi-autobiographical, Empty Room uses live song, intertwined monologues and a string quartet to explore how music can free us; revealing hidden depths to survive in times when we need it most
• Alongside the show Miriam is building a Survival Playlist which is formed by audience and public submissions of songs which help them get through difficult times

Empty Room is about a family held together by music. Onstage a jazz singer talks about her daughter and sings about her lover. Backstage a sax player rants about art and addiction, and coping with fatherhood in between. And in a classroom, an idealistic teenager (over)shares her passion for Dmitri Shostakovich and the importance of music in times of trouble.

In different places and times, they speak about truth, art, love and trauma.

Created by Miriam Gould with Dramaturgy by Alex Scott (Little Bulb Theatre) Empty Room was developed over a number of years from biographical material and original music from Miriam’s jazz musician parents, saxophonist Sal Nistico and singer Rachel Gould. Sal Nistico (Count Basie, Dizzie Gillespie, Buddy Rich) was known for his speed and articulation as a soloist and was lead tenor in the Woody Herman Big Band in the early 1960’s after which he became more of a bebop/hardbop player. Rachel Gould (Michel Graillier, Benny Bailey) still tours the world and is the last singer alive to have recorded with Chet Baker.

After the show audiences are welcome to add their own song to the Survival Playlist, an online playlist compiled from post-show and worldwide online submissions of music that has helped people through difficult times.

Previous praise for the production:

“Gould’s acting craft, notably the deft way in which she transitions and transforms from one of her three endearing characters to another, is miraculous” – Sebastian Scotney from London Jazz News

“What is also undeniable, and subverts the “one-woman show” stereotype, is how funny she is” – Cleo Henry from The Upcoming (****)

“I left the theatre smiling, a bit sad and completely captivated…It’s a great piece by a great artist…It deserves to be seen, and loved, by lots and lots of people” – View from the Circle

Performances:
28^th – 29^th April – Camden People’s Theatre 6pm (28^th) and 9pm (29^th)
13^th of May – Exeter Phoenix 7pm
16^th May – Tom Thumb Theatre 7.30pm 

Age recommendation: 14+ – This show contains talk of upsetting subject matter: death, depression and heroin addiction. It also contains some strong language.

Running time: approx. 1 hour

Credits:
Devised and Performed by Miriam Gould
Music by Rachel Gould, Sal Nistico and Dmitri Shostakovich
Dramaturgy by Alex Scott (Little Bulb Theatre)
Design by Verity Sadler
Produced by Sarah Wilson-White

Miriam Gould is an Associate Artist of Little Bulb Theatre, co-Artistic Director of female theatre duo Double Trouble as well as a solo-artist, writer and freelance theatre-maker. She comes from a mixed American- Italian-Jewish background and currently resides in Somerset. She has collaborated with a number of artists and companies such as Donald Hutera, Melanie Wilson and CBeebies. She is a musician (violin/viola/voice) and composer, whose music is integral to her theatre work.

Empty Room was Developed at Battersea Arts Centre and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

 

Interview in Theatre Things

The lovely Theatre Things interviewed Miriam about Empty Room. Read the full article here.

Miriam has published her first article!!

In anticipation of Empty Room at The Cockpit for the Camden Fringe, Miriam has written about her parents, jazz, using music as a tool for survival and touching upon the challenges of making autobiographical work.

Read it here on the Jazz in Europe website.