MUST the inside story

A collaboration between
Peggy Shaw and Clod Ensemble
By
Peggy Shaw and Suzy Willson 
Original Music by
Paul Clark 
Produced in association with
Fuel
Dates
5 May 2007 - 16 Feb 2012
Artist/Company
Clod Ensemble

MUST the inside story, produced in association with Fuel. 

A collaboration between Peggy Shaw and Clod Ensemble. 

Accompanied by a live band, legendary New York performer Peggy Shaw excavated the memories and images that sheltered in her joints and unearthed ancient stories embedded in layers of bone. Followed by a post-show discussion. 

Journey through the hills and valleys of one woman’s body. Adventure across the melting ice caps and the thirsty deserts. 

Medicine and theatre collided as legendary New York performance artist Peggy Shaw took us on a journey across the extraordinary landscape of her own body, accompanied by a live band. 

Must was a poetic look at what it feels like to have a body. It excavated the memories and images contained in the joints and layers of bone. 

Inspired by images from Gulliver’s Travels, Hildegarde von Bingen, The Elephant Man and everyday experiences of the medical profession, Must took a hard stare at the medical gaze and the assumptions people make about each other’s bodies. 

Supported by a Wellcome Trust People Award and Arts Council England (as part of the Performing Medicine Project) 

Creative Team 

By Peggy Shaw and Suzy Willson 

Original Music by Paul Clark 

Critical Acclaim for MUST

2009 Total Theatre Awards Special Commendation 

#MUST

"Exquisite... This is open-heart surgery of the artistic kind, performed without anaesthetic."

The Guardian 

"Shaw's obsession with bones, with origins and what lies at our core is what drives a powerful hour of deeply personal probing... I sincerely urge you to spend an hour in the hands of a genius."

Edinburgh Festival Magazine 

"Powerful, honest and life-affirming: if only all incisions to the body were this beautiful."

Time Out 

ABB73C5B-A51C-4932-BDF3-C60C9D79146A Created with sketchtool.

Project History

05/05/2007
Battersea Arts Centre
London
15/11/2007 - 22/11/2007
Wellcome Collection
London
06/03/2008
John Ellis Lecture Theatre, Royal London Hospital
London
08/03/2008
Bernie Grant Arts Centre
London
11/04/2008
Sadlers Wells
London
27/11/2008 - 30/11/2008
Wellcome Collection
London
25/02/2009
The ShowRoom
Chichester
12/03/2009
Leeds Met Studio
Leeds
15/03/2009
The Junction
Cambridge
21/08/2009 - 31/08/2009
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Edinburgh
07/01/2010 - 17/01/2010
Under the Radar Festival
New York
15/03/2010
Oxfordshire Science Festival
Oxford
20/03/2010
Newcastle Science Festival
Newcastle
23/03/2010
Arts & Health Symposium
Glasgow
17/05/2010 - 18/05/2010
Mayfest
Bristol
21/05/2010
The Arches
Glasgow
25/05/2010 - 26/05/2010
Queer Up North
Manchester
28/05/2010 - 05/06/2010
Soho Theatre
London
08/03/2011
Nuffield Theatre
Lancaster
11/03/2011 - 12/03/2011
The Basement
Brighton
15/11/2011
Anatomy Theatre, King's College London
London
13/02/2012
Anglia Ruskin Drama Studio
Cambridge
16/02/2012
Creative Space
Glasgow