Love And War Dances into R.E.T Studio

The Royal Exchange Studio Season comes to a close with a dance piece, courtesy of Mark Bruce and his striking new work using theatre-in-the-round to plunge audiences into the depth of a dreamlike underworld where reality and time illustrates the twin forces of nature: love and war.

With a soundtrack that includes Sparklehorse, The White Stripes and Queens of the Stone Age, Love and War sees characters from legend, rock stars, mythical gods and warriors jostle with contemporary cheerleaders and homecoming queens in a violently charged, highly physical dance piece.

The seven strong company comprises some of the best dance artists from the contemporary dance scene, who have worked with almost every major company in the UK including Rambert, DV8, Random Dance and Adventures in Motion Pictures.

Mark Bruce has had a long association with the Royal Exchange as a Choreographer and Movement Director, with productions including Antigone, The Glass Menagerie, The Revenger’s Tragedy and the upcoming production The Bacchae. The Mark Bruce Company last performed in Manchester with Mark’s latest full-length production, the critically-acclaimed Sea Of Bones, which toured nationally during 2007.

The cast also includes Greig Cooke, Eleanor Duval, Darren Ellis, Joanne Fong, Caroline Hotchkiss, Elizabeth Mischler and Ino Riga.

The production is designed by Marian Bruce and the creative team is completed by Guy Hoare (lighting) and Chris Samuels (additional sound).

Love and War runs at the Royal Exchange Studio from 1 – 3 July.