A woman in a sound booth is talking. She is talking to herself. She is talking to you. She is talking to everyone. She is gifted, professional, mercurial; it seems as if she can summon almost any kind of voice and create any kind of world.
She is selling you something
She is telling you a story
She sounds like a cereal ad
She sounds like a cartoon
She sounds like a meditation tape
She sounds like a shapeshifter
She sounds like the ocean
You would listen to her say anything. Her voice is all around. Her voice is all there is. Her voice is all that’s left. She conjures her own ghost in real time.
The Talent is a new show by Action Hero and Deborah Pearson about the legacy of the human voice in a non-human future.
Commissioned by Teatro do Bairro Alto, South Street Arts and University of Reading and Cambridge Junction
Past Performances:
Teatro do Bairro Alto, April 22nd – 24th, 2022
Created and written by Gemma Paintin, James Stenhouse and Deborah Pearson
Performed by Gemma Paintin, Deborah Pearson and James Stenhouse
Sound design Yas Clarke
Lighting design Alex Fernandes
Set Design Camilla Clarke
Dramaturgical Consultant Tania El Khoury
Producer for Action Hero Sarah Warden
The Talent is co-commissioned by Teatro do Biarro Alto (PT), South Street Arts and University of Reading (UK) and Cambridge Junction (UK)
Developed at PACT Zollverein
Supported by Bristol Old Vic Ferment
With thanks to University of Bristol Drama Department, QMUL School of English and Drama and The Yard
With funding from Arts Council England
Deborah Pearson 