Surge Festival Acts 2024
A PORTAL IN CANDLERIGGS
Leave the streets of Glasgow behind and step into imagined worlds of your own making!
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY | |
| Candleriggs | |
| 1pm to 4 | |
Using model making, simple props, green screen, live performance and real-time generative AI, we will transport you to other worlds in a fun mash-up of improvisational theatre and cutting-edge technology.
Created by Surge’s TechBox with thanks to students from City of Glasgow College NQ Model Making for TV and HND Model Making for the Creative Industries.
ARRIVED
by Adrian Schvarzstein & Jurate Sirvyte-Rukstele
They came from the not-so-distant past and therefore see the present-day world through somewhat different eyes.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY | |
| WALKABOUT | |
| 13.00 to 13.40 and 15.15 to 15.55 | |
Blissfully naïve and willing to help everyone and in every place. Surprising passers-by they provoke and make them laugh, creating absurd and surreal situations. The music that comes from their suitcases provide the only clue as to where these two strangers come from. A performance featuring audience interaction.
A show about migrations, exiles, newcomers. A show about us.
ATLANTIC JOURNEY
by Leticia Sanchez and Yainer Carbonell
A journey across the Atlantic in the form of a duet of Flamenco and Afro-Cuban traditional dances.
| FRIDAY |
| Wilson Street |
| 13.00 to 13.30 and 17.00 to 17.30 |
From the Sierras of Spain to the shores of Cuba there is a connection that goes beyond words.
Movement. Culture. Music.
For hundreds of years these countries have shared the intricacies of their folk-lore, pulling further reaching cultures into the mix. In many cases these energies have been brought with pain or suffering, peoples fighting for survival and recognition in their own lands and overseas. It is a beautiful thing to then see these happenings grow into the strength of Flamenco and Afro-Cuban Dance.
Both of these dance forms express that which can’t be said, both share that which must be felt. When they meet oceans move and continents shift. When they meet a new culture grows.
Leticia Sanchez and Yainer Carbonell are the meeting of these two forces. They move through the intricacies and delight in the playful and powerful gifts they have to share. Within this meeting the attention is held, nurtured and offered learning from the mix of traditional and current patterns.
This performance is a multi-artform show of dance, live music and physical storytelling.
BRASS, AYE?
With a penchant for the gold and shiny, we bring singing, dancing, and carnival flavours to every party.
| SATURDAY |
| Bell Street / Albion Street |
| 13.45 to 14.15 and 15.45pm to 16.15 |
Our music and make-up have evolved over the years, with fostering growth and creating joy at the heart of what we do. But like our music, our penchant for gold and shiny has evolved too. Once donned with a single golden t-shirt, we're now often found gilded head to toe. All complemented by bringing maximum funk + party wherever we go.
MR BURN
by Ramshacklicious
Explosive, chaotic, musical clown show full of surprises and disaster!
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| Brunswick Street |
| SATURDAY 13.15 to 13.40 and 14.45 to 15.10 |
| SUNDAY 13.15 to 13.40 and 15.15 to 15.40 |
Meet Mr. & Mr. Burn, an explosive, chaotic, offbeat Vegas double act with a touch of disaster about them. Listen as they fill the air with some sweet swinging, brass heavy music, but will they get through their gig without setting their whole world on fire?
Mr. Burn is built around an oddly comic, musical world played and looped live on trombone, tuba, baritone uke and electronic drums. Into this mix add clowning, puppetry, fire and pyrotechnics, creating an anarchic world of surprises where anything can and will go wrong!
Ramshacklicious creates high quality, contemporary theatrical experiences for the outdoors. We aim to create work that is accessible and yet subversive. Creating shows that take our unsuspecting audiences on anarchic journeys into the unexpected!
CERA IMPALA
Cera’s whiskey-honeyed voice takes intimately crafted pieces to another time and place.
| FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| Bell Street / Albion Street |
| FRIDAY 13.30 to 14.00 and 17.30 to 18.00 |
| SAT / SUN 13.00 to 13.30 and 14.30 to 15.00 |
Cera Impala creates songs that feel instantly familiar. Her whiskey-honeyed voice takes intimately crafted pieces to another time and place, one of dreams and magic, as sensual as they are savage.
DJ Elanda
ELANDA is a DJ & producer from Zimbabwe with a percussive and intoxicatingly hypotonic melodic style.
| FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| Brunswick Street |
| FRIDAY 12.30 to 13.30 and 16.00 to 17.00 |
| SAT / SUN 16.15pm to 17.15 |
Her sound is a multifarious eclectic, deep, dark- a rhythmic-led melodic bass trip, flowing seamlessly from afro-tech/house to global bass, leftfield, and UK dubstep. She brings an effortless finesse to dance music. Don't be surprised if she drops some R & B tunes on the occasion too though!
FISH OUT OF WATER & BED OF ROSES
YouthSTUFF bring a shoal of gigantic fish, using the streets as their playground, while Kayos are looking for a new home for their slightly prickly roses!
| SATURDAY - FISH OUT OF WATER | SUNDAY - BED OF ROSES |
| WALKABOUT | WALKABOUT |
| 13.30pm – 14:15 | 13.30pm – 14:15 |
Our Community Street Theatre project brings YouthSTUFF Youth Theatre Company and Inverclyde Youth Theatre (Kayos), Beacon Young Company and Clyde Pride Youth Group to the festival.
YouthSTUFF bring a shoal of gigantic fish, using the streets as their playground, while Kayos’ uprooted roses are looking for a new home that’s suitable enough for their astounding beauty. Are you glamorous enough to join the gorgeous, if slightly prickly, roses?
Funded by The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Hugh Fraser Foundation and The Foyle Foundation. In partnership with Beacon Arts Centre and Dunoon Burgh Hall.
THE FRAME
by Eléctrico 28
A drastic exercise in the street to discover the extraordinary. Please arrive 10 minutes before the show starts. This is a free ticketed event.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY | |
| Garth Street / Hutcheson St | |
| SATURDAY 12.00 to 12.50 and 15.45 to 16.35 | |
| SUNDAY 13.45 to 14.35 and 15.45 to 16.35 | |
The Frame stands in front of the urban city life to observe it. Four characters submit themselves to the vertigo of life in a game to capture everything that happens and see it as a great theatrical work. Risk, reaction and improvisation turn what is ordinary into something extraordinary. Eléctrico 28 seeks to remove labels in the theatre, to live it as a crazy and eloquent excuse to express oneself freely in the public space.
THE JIMMY HOO HA
The Jimmy Hoo Ha is an indie-folk singer from Glasgow. Influenced by the Beatles, Stones, Dylan and Tom Waits.
| FRIDAY | |
| Wilson Street | |
| 12.30 – 13.00, 13.30 – 14.00, and 16.30 – 17.00 | |
The Jimmy Hoo Ha is an indie-folk singer from Glasgow. His musical influences include The Beatles, Stones, Bob Dylan, The Handsome Family, First Aid Kit and Tom Waits. The Jimmy Hoo Ha started around 2015. James brings in various musicians to work on his albums. This indie folkster brought out his debut album Asylum café in 2017, Beware of folk in 2021 and Skunk poppers and Crack (EP) in 2023. Latest festivals include summer Live in London Ealing 2023, Hanwell Hootie music festival in London 2019 and 2022, Galafest music festival 2022, Mugstock Music festival 2017 and 2018.
I, HONEYPOT
by Nikhita Devi
An interactive walkabout performance utilising Indian classical dance commenting on AI technology.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY | |
| WALKABOUT | |
| 13.00 to 13.30 and 15.30 to 16.00 | |
'I, Honeypot' is an interactive walkabout performance utilising various forms of dance and physical theatre to comment on the rise of AI technology and the commodification of women's bodies and labour. Nikhita Devi plays the role of the titular character Honeypot, an automaton who has been designed and programmed to entertain guests in a world where resources such as time and energy are too short to train human dancers to the level required for professionals, thus the artistic process has been outsourced to AI so that humans can concentrate their efforts on the processes of production and consumption.
This show is part of a Four Nations Bursary Programme supporting artists to create new outdoor work.
LO-FI HIP HOP BEETROOTS
Two beetroots perform songs about garden variety vegetables. The ultimate warm up gang who are great in a salad too.
| FRIDAY | |
| Wilson Street | |
| 16.00 to 16.30 and 17.30 to 18.00 | |
Two giant beetroots enter the space, they have with them a roving ‘beet’ rapping station and carrot microphones. Celebrating all that we love and hate about vegetables, they are rooting out the new lo-fi hip hoppers of the world: those who make the in-between music used for focus, study, chill vibes, relaxing and easy listening. As they turnip the volume and show off their VIPea status; they will brussel-scout out sounds from up and coming hip-hoppers; creating gourd vibes all round!
MDME KAKAPO & SON
by Amadan Ensemble
Mdme Kakapo & her son Bruce are looking for an easy mark. These loveable scoundrels may be out to fleece you but they’re very bad at being bad.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| WALKABOUT |
| 14.45 to 15.15 and 16.30 to 17.00 |
Bruce bought some boxes of tea but found they actually contained the Greatest Ever Fortune Teller! And she definitely isn’t his mum in a costume, stuck in a box.
They travel the world telling fortunes whilst trying to part people from their money. The only problem is they’re idiots.
Look out for the hilarious, Mdme Kakapo & Son, roaming the streets with their mysterious boxes. Their future might be in your hands!
THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL IN THE WORLD
by Jazzville Productions
A sheep, exiled from her island community for adventurous spirit, ends up in the city.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| Wilson Street / Hutcheson Street |
| SATURDAY 12.30 to 13.05 and 16.30 to 17.05 |
| SUNDAY 12.30 to 13.05 and 14.45 to 15.20 |
Join us as we follow the adventurous journey of a spirited sheep, exiled from her island community and thrust into the bustling city. Is it dangerous to be different? Can she find a new herd in this urban landscape? Prepare for a dynamic fusion of dance styles, from Charleston to Tango, blended seamlessly with comedy, theatre, and song, all set against the lively backdrop of the city streets. Don't just watch – be a part of the story in this unforgettable, interactive street theatre experience!
This show is part of a Four Nations Bursary Programme supporting artists to create new outdoor work.
PAULINE VALLANCE
Pauline is a singer/songwriter and clarsach player. "Timeless, magical and unique".
| FRIDAY | |
| Brunswick | |
| 12.00 to 12.30 and 17.00 to 17.30 | |
Pauline is a singer/songwriter and clarsach player with a wide-ranging repertoire. She can take you from traditional favourites to unusual rock covers, from her own songs to Songs to the Tune of Other Songs (yes really!).
She has taken her clarsach all over the UK, which is difficult as it's really heavy performing at festivals, folk clubs and events. She takes her Song Swap-o-rama Show to the Edinburgh Fringe every year and her latest album The World's a Gift, was nominated for Scottish Album of the Year in 2023.
"Timeless, magical and unique".
"Hilarious and totally batshit". Take your pick!
THE MUSEUM OF MEMORABLE TREES
by Harry Pizzey
Discover evocative arboreal tales and miniature worlds in this mobile museum.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY | |
| WALKABOUT | |
| 12.30 to 13.15 and 15.00 to 15.45 | |
Cardiff based multi-disciplinary designer Harry Pizzey presents the Museum of Memorable Trees. Let the curator guide you through the exhibits as you listen to evocative tales of great trees that have woven themselves into people’s lives and memories. Be transported to a different time and place as you discover beautifully crafted moving dioramas that illustrate these arboreal stories. There is still lots of space for new entries to the museum, is there a tree that you can contribute?
This show is part of a Four Nations Bursary Programme supporting artists to create new outdoor work.
RHYZE TO MORPH
by Nomoss
Rhyze To Morph by Nomoss is a sensory tale of transformation, zombie mushrooms and powerful fungal connection.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| Ramshorn Graveyard |
| 12.30 to 12.50 and 14.45 to 15.05 |
Rhyze To Morph by Nomoss is a sensory tale of transformation, of zombie mushrooms and the powerful fungal capabilities to connect, destroy, deconstruct and decompose. An outdoor performance using Butoh dance, evocative stirring guitar and playful vocals.
Nomoss are a performance art collective - Suzi Cunningham, Ruairidh Morrison and Lucie Yavruturk. Through Butoh dance, aspects of physical theatre, natural costume, sound and installation, we seek to entice people into experiencing the mystical role that fungi play within our natural world and bring attention to the vital role of unseen connections and minute life.
UN DUO JAZZ DE BARIBONE
This stellar duo of Allon Beauvoisin (Baritone Sax) & Chris Greive (Trombone) grooves Jazz tunes and more!
| SUNDAY |
| Bell Street / Albion Street |
| 13.45 to 14.15 and 15.45 to 16.15 |
From the fictitious French town of Baribone forms a duo that draws from the Jazz genres of Soul, Funk and Swing. This stellar duo of Allon Beauvoisin (Baritone Sax) & Chris Greive (Trombone) grooves Jazz tunes utilising their Bass clef credentials to bring power to the bottom end and sweet melodies that sway the listener towards fascination and foot-tapping appreciation!
WATTLE & DAUB
by Paula Renzel & Daisy Williams
Beautician babes Wattle & Daub on a mission to embellish the world.
| SATURDAY AND SUNDAY |
| WALKABOUT |
| 14.15 to 14.55 and 16.00 to 16.40 |
North Wales based circus artists Daisy Williams and Paula Renzel present Wattle & Daub, two beautician babes on a mission to embellish just about anyone they can get their hands on. They are wannabe dodgy dealers with a big heart, loveable bad crooks. With an absurd take on today’s beauty industry, the pair will waltz around offering unsuspecting 'volunteers’ a short escape from reality in their makeshift roadside salon, from which they sell their dodgy wares.
This show is part of a Four Nations Bursary Programme supporting artists to create new outdoor work.
SUMMER GATHERING
by Articulation
Articulation's Summer Gathering at Surge is a 4-Nations forum that brings together key organisations, artists, producers and cultural programmers involved in outdoor arts, circus and physical performance. This is a ticketed free event
| FRIDAY |
| BAaD – Barras Art and Design |
| 14.00 to 18.30 |
Articulation's Summer Gathering at Surge is a 4-Nations forum that brings together key organisations, artists, producers and cultural programmers involved in outdoor arts, circus and physical performance. This free event is for everyone involved in outdoor arts and is intended to ignite conversation about how to foster better collaborative, cross-border working across the UK and Ireland and Internationally. There will be presentations from leading outdoor arts organisations and artists, thought-provoking discussions as well as informal networking. We'll be rounding up proceedings with an informal drinks reception (drinks and some mouthwatering sourdough pizza will be provided). All taking place at BAaD, a fantastic light-filled venue in one of the most unique and exciting areas of Glasgow, The Barras Market.
