Truman Capote revelled in outrage and celebrity – staging parties that would simultaneously delight and scandalise 1960s US high society.
His guest lists featured Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, the Bloomingdales, Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy, David Niven, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Hope Lange and many, many more.
Fringe audiences are invited to don a mask and take part in the world premiere of Garden Party, Truman Capote’s Black and White Celebration – an immersive theatrical experience.
Two hosts stage their own garden party where rich and famous – movie stars and politicians or avantgarde artists – become dancers in the ballad of hypocrisy.
They capture the spirit of Capote’s own great social coup, his star-studded 1966 Black and White Ball masquerade at New York’s Plaza Hotel, which embodied his immense talent, ambition and obsessive desire to be the centrepiece of high society.
Presented by Paris-based Kulturscio’k Live Art Collective, Garden Party, Truman Capote’s Black and White Celebration plunges audiences into a world of shimmering glamour, smeared by squalid secrets. Performers Sean O’Callaghan, Paul Spera, and Alessia Siniscalchi (with live sound by Didier Leglise) introduce them to a dangerous conflict where art and life are closely entwined.
And the real guests of honour are not the multitude of famous names but hypocrisy, class power, destructive gossip and perhaps even murder. And not all the guests are equally welcome, indeed many have been invited simply for what they represent.
The show is aimed at those who love mystery, original music and immersive writing.
Director and performer, Alessia Siniscalchi, said: “At a time when being gay or questioning gender norms was profoundly controversial, Capote embraced and championed the queer. This new, immersive production returns us to high society life in that era, its delights, darkness, scandals and the yearning to smash social hypocrisy.”
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Notes for editors
• Interviews available – just get in touch.
Listings Details
• Venue: Annexe at theSpace @ SymposiumHall (Venue 43)
• Time: 4pm
• Dates: 1-9 August
• Duration: 55 mins
• Ticket prices: Full price £12, concessions £8, family £7
• Suitability: 12+
• Warnings: Sexually explicit language
• Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com
Cast and creatives
• Company: Kulturscio’k Live Art Collective
• Performers: Sean O’Callaghan, Paul Spera, and Alessia Siniscalchi
• Director: Alessia Siniscalchi
• Writers: Alessia Siniscalchi and Paul Spera
• Music: Marco Cappelli and Phil St George
• Live sound: Didier Leglise
• Producer: Kulturscio’k Live Art Collective
• Stage manager and lighting: Lucy Planet Donnelly, Benjamin Sillon
About the creative team
Kulturscio’k is an innovative live art collective founded by Alessia Siniscalchi and composed of French, Italian and American performers, actors, visual artists and dancers producing and curating different works and events under the motto “Shocking art through art”. In past years works by Alessia Siniscalchi and Paul Spera, with original music by Phil St George and Didier Leglise (among the others) have been presented at museums, festivals, archeological sites and theatres.