We are living through climate change, poverty and global political chaos.
Xenophobia and racially-motivated violence is regularly stirred by increasingly right wing governments desperate to gain and maintain power.
News bombardment keeps us in a state of fight or flight.
What happens when we override our fight or flight response?
Why are people more susceptible to government manipulation?
The Relentless Approach of Better Times is an urgent and compelling solo show by Emma Smith, combining electronic music with double bass and film.
An intensely personal work, it uses news headlines, recordings and photos from Emma Smith’s work for Musicians Without Borders in Palestine and El Salvador to reflect on the effects of trauma and invites you to experience how music is fundamental to our survival.
She uses echos of early 20th Century classical music to create a sense of paranoia, folk music to tell stories, filtered electronics to express dissociation, and free improvising to address the audience directly.
This show takes you on a journey from anxiety to hope. This is not escapism. It is a defiant leap into the darkness.
Emma Smith is a double bassist, composer, improviser and collaborator. Trained in classical double bass, she also explores the story-telling aspects of folk music from different parts of the world. An advocate for gender balance, she produces the Bitches Brew series which showcases women instrumental improvisers (supported by Serious and Cryptic). Working for Musicians Without Borders, Emma spent time in Palestine and El Salvador, as well as training musicians across Europe to provide creative spaces for displaced people. Her work has been selected for the Made In Scotland international showcase at Edinburgh Fringe and for the Arteles residency in Finland.
The Relentless Approach of Better Times
Previous performances: Made in Scotland Showcase at Edinburgh Fringe, Cryptic Nights at CCA Glasgow, Ideas Festival Oxford, Dunoon Borough Hall for Scotland on Tour
Duration: 50 minutes
Performers: Emma Smith (double bass, bass guitar, percussion, electronics), projections
Developed during residencies with Oxford Contemporary Music and Cryptic. Part of the Made In Scotland Showcase.
Photo credit: Samuel Temple