ABOUT US
Two Destination Language is Alister Lownie and
Katherina Radeva. They make work exploring boundaries
in identity and culture.
Alister’s Scottish heritage and Katherina’s Bulgarian
background give them an interest in how cultures
interact, develop and are defined. Often working from
autobiographical starting points, they make personal
material into emotionally and intellectually stimulating
experiences relevant to contemporary society.
Drawing on a variety of performing and fine arts
traditions, their practice is founded on the belief that
live work should have its audience — an ephemeral
community — at its core. This leads them to shape form
to each subject they work with, creating theatre
performances, intimate work and installations.
NEAR GONEtheatre/studio performance
Two performers have a difficult story to tell. On a stage
covered in 400 fresh flowers arranged in two neat lines,
they step forward and begin to put into words the utterly
unspeakable.
Playing with translation, the unknowable and the gulfs
between us, Near Gone boasts Bulgarian, English, gypsy-
inspired music and terrific dance to create a storm of
emotion.
A performance piece that packs a punch – transforming
your very sense of what it is to be a mother, a father, a
child. And you'll leave feeling more fully alive than ever.
“near-perfect” —Total Theatre Magazine
“beautiful and somehow devastating” —Exeunt
“brilliantly captured performance” —The Guardian
LANDEDintimate performance installation
An intimate encounter which reveals what love has left,
as we glimpse what might have been, once was and is
forever gone. Working with untrained performers’
memories of the loves that passed them by, the loves
that endured and those that still burn today, each
experience is a glimpse of hope and the extraordinary in
human nature.
As well as a touring performance celebrating the
valuable richness of often-marginalised elderly people,
the project can be re-made with a specific local group for
a presenter.
Outside the performance chambers is an interactive
installation, in which members of the public share their
own brushes with love.
“the power to subvert normality even in the most banal ofsettings” —Daily Telegraph
A man at work, a man playing, a man playing at being a
man: Manpower is a celebration of everyday maleness.
Alister and Kat have been thinking about men and
power: Bruce, Clint, sheds and tea, heavy responsibility
and mouth-watering barbecues. Prepare to laugh, wince
and find yourself thinking of men you’ve known, loved,
hated and wanted to be.
It’s a show about aspirations and expectations,
determination and discovery, vulnerability and sheer
hard work.
MANPOWERtheatre/studio performance
“These two break my heart with their compulsion to turn theirown experience into matter for personal and publicexamination. I loved Near Gone but Manpower goes deeperand lays open their relationship – things about being a manand being a woman – to excruciating scrutiny. Hilarious andtragic with great costumes, a cool soundtrack and a tummy-rumbling tea break that left me craving a bacon sandwich fordays after.” —Cheryl Pierce, Institute of ContemporaryInterdisciplinary Arts, Bath
Selected show: World Stage Design (2013)Shortlisted: Judges' Award, Clonmel Junction (2013)
Phot
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Has
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With themes of identity, border crossing and migration
at its heart, A Journey of a Home deals with the ‘long
moment’ created through the act of travelling, in which
hope meets reality, the place where we simultaneously
look towards the future and back at what we have just
left.
The audio in the piece uses two intertwined voices, one
telling of a girl arriving for the first time in a foreign
land, the other reflecting on the nature of travel. These
gently explore what makes our home – family, friends,
environments and possessions – the physical things which
support, reinforce and bound our identity.
The walking journey begins and ends at an especially
designed booth, where an installation of written and
drawn responses grows throughout the event.
A JOURNEY OF A HOMEoutdoor audio performance walk, one on one
“Very thought-provoking and emotive - I cried!! All I know is lifeis for living, so take the journey. Be brave, you never knowwhat is around the corner.” // “Alister and Katherina, thankyou for this beautiful Journey. It really touched me. Loved thesensitivity of the text and the way that you carry us. It was apleasure to meet you.” —audience responses
Storyville is an exploration of value. Taking place in a
public space, such as a gallery or disused shop, the piece
invites the audience into our living room, transplanted to
the performance site. All our possessions are priced
according to the personal value we place on them — and
all are available for sale as we hold an ‘open house’ and
invite visitors to share a cup of tea and conversation.
People browse, discuss the history of objects, share
stories of their own with us, and reflect on how value is
created and in what ways it is shared. Sometimes they
buy things, depriving us of personal possessions with
meaningful histories. The accumulated objects reveal our
pasts to create an installation that is both personal and
universal, while the shape of each encounter is dictated
by our visitors. This ephemeral community and the
conversational exchanges contain the work’s own value.
STORYVILLEinhabited installation
“They are so warm and charming that their infectiouschattiness and contemplative air soon have you sharing, andreflecting on, snapshots of your own life’s history.” —It WouldCrumble blog
OTHER WORK
Based on the fall of the Berlin Wall, Fallen Fruit is a
solo theatre performance exploring communism and
capitalism through the eyes of a young girl, questioning
our perceptions of freedom, whether walls protect or
expose us and asking why we are so curious about the
other side.
Dusty Feet was an interactive gallery exhibition about
signs and meaning, incorporating engagement projects
with children, youth, and elderly participants. Working
with museums and archives to source material for the
exhibition, Alister and Katherina used this commission to
bring together disparate parts of the local community.
WLTM is an immersive theatre experience which
explores romantic relationships, and what happens when
two personal histories come into contact.
The company also curates and produces FLINT, a series
of commissions, events and festivals which bring
contemporary performance to audiences outside of large
urban centres.
CONTACT
Alister Lownie
+44/0 7786 911954
Katherina Radeva
+44/0 7790 402521
www.twodestinationlanguage.com
@2destlang on twitter
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