Declining Solo
a daughter gathering the fragments of her father
Declining Solo is about the relationship between a father and daughter, between a person and their culture. It’s about migration and home and what it means to belong in a place. It’s about who we are.
Combining text with choreography, video and specially commissioned music, Declining Solo invites you inside one woman’s memories of the family home where she grew up. Populated by stories of communism, war, merriment and family, she shapes a world from paper and projection as she seeks the father she has lost.
Memories, folklore, political turmoil and family history combine in a celebration of life and our shared stories.
a universally recognisable sense of yearning for home
The Stage
Complex, tender work … Declining Solo uses all the senses to draw us in.
Folkestone audience member
Declining Solo was one of the best pieces of theatre I have ever seen. Extraordinary – bravo!
Tom Campbell, ICA London
A beautiful, brave piece of work steeped in memories and nostalgia. A deft use of paper, coal, projection and roasting peppers to conjure a lost past, a fast-fading culture, and a lost father. A multi-layered show, disarmingly honest in its choices, that doesn’t shy away from sentimentality or simple truths to convey a sense of longing and a craving to belong.
Cheryl Pierce, Director, Quarterhouse Folkestone
credits
Devised and performed by Katherina Radeva and Alister Lownie
Music created by Tim Blazdell
Lighting by Vince Field
Choreographed with Robbie Synge
performance history
Development (2016):
BE fest, BirminghamCamden Peoples TheatreThe Point EastleighARC StocktonSalisbury Arts CentrePerformances
2017Quarterhouse, Folkestone, 29th AprilJacksons Lane, London, 6-7th JuneARC Stockton, 15th JuneDerby Theatre, 20th JulyEdge Hill Arts, 31 OctoberSalisbury Playhouse, 2nd-4th NovemberThe Lowry, Salford Quays, 8th November