Al Seed Productions and Vanishing Point present:

PLINTH

by Al Seed

Presented in partnership with Beacon Arts Centre and Tramway

Running time: 50mins with no interval

Written and Performed by Al Seed

Dramaturg Niloo-Far Khan

Production Management Niall Black

Costume & Prop Design Zephyr Liddell

Lighting Design and Show Operation Alberto Santos Bellido

Set Design Kai Fischer

Sound Design Guy Veale

Stage Management Zephyr Liddell

Costume Maker Emily Smit-Dicks 

Prop Painter Jen Kilgour 

Metalwork Technician Emma Hyslop

Produced by Al Seed Productions and Vanishing Point 

Thanks:

Al Seed Productions is very grateful for the facilities offered by Tramway and the producing support provided by Claricia Parinussa during development. The realisation of the show greatly benefited from the consultancy offered by Charlene Boyd, Judith Milligan, Laurence Cook and Hilary Westlake. We would like to thank our many collaborators – especially Helen Mackay at RCS –  with whom we created Plinth’s public workshop programme.

Supported by Creative Scotland.  

A Note from Al Seed:

I habitually refer to these shows as ‘solos’. It’s not true of course; to make a show like this requires a sizeable team of collaborators performing all sorts of essential roles around concept, design, building and logistics. It’s more than that however.

In performing a ‘solo' show, the right music, an object, or even a pool of light can fulfil the role of a performance partner. Such elements become valued friends, provoking and guiding you through the journey of the show. They are also threads, linking you to the flesh and blood companions sitting out there in the dark, pressing the buttons that make your little onstage world turn around.

I am extremely fortunate for the trusted collaborators I have, several of whom I have been making shows with for 15 years and longer. For Plinth, I am particularly grateful for the producing partnership of Vanishing Point, the first company I ever made professional work with, and without whom this tour would not have been possible.

I also wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Bodman and Mike Wilson, my covert collaborators.

A Note from Matthew Lenton (Vanishing Point):

It‘s a pleasure to work again with Al, one of the original co-founders of Vanishing Point. I saw the work-in-progress performance of Plinth at Tramway in 2022 and felt immediately that this exhilarating show raised compelling questions about who we immortalise as heroes. It was the perfect opportunity for Al and Vanishing Point to work together again after many years.

Vanishing Point’s commitment to producing or co-producing other artists is a crucial element of the vital space the company occupies within Scottish theatre and we’re thrilled that Plinth marks our final collaboration of 2023, a year in which we will have  toured four brilliant shows, by four brilliant artists, to 21 venues across Scotland.

 “I can imagine the earth itself is angry, perhaps revengeful… Does it not resent the waste of its topsoil, subsoil in the six thousand miles of trench dug by the French army in WWI, and another six thousand miles by the British? German trenches were like an interlocked city, with levels, compartments, floorings. We owe the earth something, and how can the debt be acknowledged?… It is as if the enemy has become the earth itself… Could the land want war? Suppose the earth, Mother Earth (or other, ancient god) if you prefer, demands blood.”

A Terrible Love of War, James Hillman

“ ‘I’ve been having this dream,’ the major said. ‘I’ve had it two times now. I’m in a big examination room back at Quantico. They’re handing out questionnaires for an aptitude test. I take one and look at it, and the first question says, “How many kinds of animal can you kill with your hands?” ’… ‘After the first tour, I’d have the goddamnest nightmares. You know, the works. Bloody stuff, bad fights, guys dying, me dying… I thought they were the worst,’ he said. ‘But I sort of miss them now.’”

Despatches, Michael Herr

“… ‘Every nine years, nine men come into my house so that I can free them from evil. I hear their footsteps or their voices far away in the galleries of stone, and I run joyously to find them… One of them predicted as he died that someday my redeemer would come…What will my redeemer be like, I wonder? Will he be bull or man? Could he possibly be a bull with the face of a man? Or will he be like me?’…

The morning sun shimmered on the bronze sword. Now there was not a trace of blood left on it.

‘Can you believe it, Ariadne?’, said Theseus. ‘The Minotaur scarcely defended itself.’ ”

 The House of Asterion, Jorge Luis Borges

PLINTH TOUR DATES 2023/2024:

BEACON ARTS CENTRE (Greenock)
Thu 12 Oct 2023 WORLD PREMIERE

DUNDEE REP
Tue 24 & Wed 25 Oct 2023

MULL THEATRE, Tobermory 
Tue 31 Oct 2023

EDEN COURT, Inverness 
Tue 7 Nov 2023

TRAMWAY, Glasgow
Sat 11 Nov 2023

TRAVERSE, Edinburgh as part of Manipulate festival
Fri 2 — Sat 3 Feb 2024

BYRE THEATRE, St Andrews
Thu 8 Feb 2024

CUMBERNAULD THEATRE at Lanternhouse
Sat 10 Feb 2024

AL SEED PRODUCTIONS

Based in Glasgow, Al Seed Productions was founded upon Al's long-term partnerships with companies and creatives throughout Scotland and on the international scene.

ASP’s approach to creating theatre is inherently multi-artform, with an emphasis upon exploring how known stories and mythologies can be reimagined in striking, visceral, often wordless forms.

ASP is also committed to using its work as a means of framing some of the most difficult questions that can be asked of our world today, addressing complexities and conundrums head on.

In this way, the notion of tragedy – and its offer to modern audiences – is at the heart of the company’s productions.

Through the Waypoint-1 project, ASP is committed to integrating all of its artistic endeavours with ongoing support of early career performance-makers across Scotland. The focus of Waypoint-1 is the provision of participant-led, person-specific, one-on-one mentorship lasting a year or longer.

ASP is currently planning for a new, large-scale show, Thrice, a development of the worlds created in Plinth and 2018’s, The Spinners.

Board of Directors: Viktoria Begg (Chair), Niloo-Far Khan, Dominic Hill, Tony Mills and Shona Cowie

Web:  www.alseed.net // www.waypoint-1.net

Facebook: @AlSeedProductions
Instagram: @alseedproductions
X / Twitter: @AlSeedProds

VANISHING POINT

Vanishing Point is a world-renowned artist-led theatre company based in Scotland. Our aim is to create theatre that is beautiful, accessible, and original. We have an international and multicultural perspective, collaborating with artists and producers from across the world, to create genre-defying theatre for venues of varying scales – from international stages to local village halls. We are committed to performing for audiences across Scotland, wherever they live and however rural they may be. Our work has been performed at theatres and festivals in 30 countries across the world.

In 2024/25, Vanishing Point will co-produce two major international shows with Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama (Japan) and the Piccolo Theatre in Milan (Italy) respectively - more details will be announced soon. 

Artistic Director Matthew Lenton
Executive Producer Severine Wyper
Administrative Producer Eleanor Scott
Marketing Manager Niall Walker
Digital Communications Officer Matthew Price
PR Manager Lesley Booth
Accounts Manager Brian Daly

Board of Directors: Gillian McCormack, Victoria Beesley, Trent Kim, Ramesh Meyyappan, Francis McKee, Judith Patrickson, Emma Ruse and Mark Thomson