(Never) Meet Your Heroes
Scotland-based theatre practitioners meet their theatre heroes. For better or worse.
Covering everything from how you name your theatre company to the current state of theatre and the world, the interviewers ask questions that are always curious, sometimes probing, occasionally provocative.
(Never) Meet Your Heroes is a rare opportunity to engage, informally and in-person, with visionary, internationally influential artists who might ignite your thinking and challenge your idea of what’s possible.
Matthew Lenton, Artistic Director of Vanishing Point, meets TIM ETCHELLS, Artistic Director of Forced Entertainment
Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello, Artistic Directors of Shotput Dance Theatre meet choreographer EMMA MARTIN, artistic director of Dublin-based United Fall and creator of Night Dances, Birdboy and much more.
Part of the Vanishing Point Winter Residency
(NEVER) MEET YOUR HEROES
SHOTPUT X EMMA MARTIN
Thu 28 January 2027
4.30pm / 90 mins
Tickets
Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello, Artistic Directors of Shotput Dance Theatre meet choreographer EMMA MARTIN, artistic director of United Fall.
Emma Martin is an Irish choreographer and director whose work begins with dance and moves between theatre, live music, film, installation, opera and visual art. She creates visceral, theatrical performance driven by an interest in what bodies can reveal, disrupt and imagine. Originally trained as a ballet dancer, Emma began making work in 2010 and has created and produced work through her company United Fall since 2018. Her works include Soft God, King/Shrine, Night Dances, Birdboy, Orfeo ed Euridice, Girl Song, Dancehall and Tundra. Her work has been presented across Ireland and internationally. An Associate Artist at VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art and an Aerowaves Twenty23 selected artist, Emma lives and works in County Carlow, in the southeast of Ireland.
Shotput is a dance-theatre company, led by Co-Artistic Directors Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello. We make work about contemporary life with athleticism, humour, a touch of tenderness, and a striking visual voice. We are fascinated with how humans work - and even more, how they work together. Our productions are full-bodied and ambitious. They are born of experimentation and collaboration. We define our work not as a collection of shows, but as a network of relationships with artists and audiences. Founded in Glasgow in 2018, Shotput is embedded in Scotland and committed to internationalism.
Why Emma is a Hero
We first encountered Emma Martin’s work in 2022 and were immediately struck by its boldness, vibrancy and hypnotic energy. She also insists - both through her work and in conversation - on dance as a language that does not need to compromise to the standards of other forms (for example, theatre), while at the same time entering into incredibly fruitful collaborations with artists from other disciplines. Visually striking and full of life, Emma's work reflects a fearlessness that gets right to the heart of the subject and has the wonderful power to start conversations. Beyond her artistic practice, Emma is also a generous and lovely person. We visited her residency space in Ireland in 2024, so in a sense we’ve already 'met', but we've never dived into the thinking behind Emma’s work. Through this event we're excited to have an in-depth artistic conversation with Emma, to learn from her, and to ask new questions of ourselves.
(NEVER) MEET YOUR HEROES
MATTHEW LENTON X TIM ETCHELLS
Sat 30 January 2027
4.30pm / 90 mins
Tickets
Matthew Lenton, Vanishing Point’s Artistic Director, meets TIM ETCHELLS, Artistic Director of Forced Entertainment.
Tim’s work has been exhibited in significant institutions all over the world, and his projects have been commissioned by Centre Pompidou (Paris), Basel Ballet, Whitechapel Gallery, Festival D’Avignon, NT Gent, Ruhr Triennale, among others. His visual art works are in numerous private and institutional collections and his large-scale neon projects have been shown in iconic urban locations from Athens to Gwangju, Berlin and New York. Monographs on Etchells’ work with Forced Entertainment and on his work in installation and neon were published in 2023 by Spector Books . He is represented by Ebensperger (Berlin) and by The Odds Agency (Paris). https://timetchells.com/
Why Tim is a Hero
I learned about Tim and Forced Entertainment at Glasgow University in 1996. We went to see Showtime at the Traverse Theatre. I loved it. It was funny, sad, completely unique and felt alive. I loved the idea of these artists working together as a collective to make art, tour and live that life. I’ve always been inspired by the maverick singularity and outsider-ness of Tim and FE.
