Purposeless Movements

When they were born the doctors called it Purposeless Movements – for them it’s just how they get around

Purposeless Movements is a visually stunning dance theatre piece that riffs on the stories of four guys with cerebral palsy, how it affects their lives, their gender, their masculinity and their movement.

“…theatre with an intensity of purpose, honest even unflinchingly graphic, wickedly funny and memorably impressive at every level”
The Herald, 2016

Directed by Robert Softley Gale
Associate Director – Rachel Drazek

The Team Access Tour Dates Reviews Photos & Videos Information from the 2016 production

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Funny and challenging in equal measure, the show fuses music, video, movement and text as the guys tell humorous and poignant stories of their laughter, their inappropriateness and their tears – stories that ask what it is to move and be moved. How do these stories come together to shape their identities? What do they share with one another and what sets them apart? And how much of this is down to Cerebral Palsy?

The production is accompanied by music performed live on stage.

Originally produced in 2016, Purposeless Movements was revived for Edinburgh International Festival in 2019

The Team

Cast – 2019

Amy Cheskin – Performer / Interpreter

Laurence Clark – Performer

Pete Edwards – Performer

Phillip Alan Ryan – Performer

Colin Young – Performer

Cast – 2016

Amy Cheskin – Performer

Laurence Clark – Performer

Pete Edwards – Performer

Jim Fish – Performer

Colin Young – Performer

Creative Team – 2019

Robert Softley Gale – Writer & Director

Rachel Drazek – Movement & Associate Director

Mairi Taylor – Executive Producer

Michelle Rolfe – Producer

Scott Twynholm – Composer & Musician

Jill O’Sullivan – Musician

Luke Pell – Dramaturg

Neil Foulis – Lighting Designer

Creative Team – 2016

Robert Softley Gale – Writer & Director

Rachel Drazek – Movement Director

Scott Twynholm – Composer & Musician

Kim Moore – Musician

Luke Pell – Dramaturg

Neil Foulis – Production Manager & Lighting Designer

ACCESS INFORMATION

Route to The Studio:

This video shows you a level access route of how to get from Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, to The Studio. For information on how to get to Festival Theatre, please visit their website here. For further access information about The Studio you can visit the Capital Theatres website, Edinburgh International Festival website or the Access Scottish Theatre website.

For anybody who requires a quiet area, there is a Retreat Space in the foyer of The Studio.

BSL trailer:

Easy Read & Visual Synopsis:

Set & Costume Description:

Dates

Thu 25 – Sat 27 Feb 2016

Tramway, Glasgow

Wed 2 – Fri 4 Mar 2016

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Wed 16 Mar 2016

Eden Court, Inverness

Fri 16 – Sat 17 Aug 2019

Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock

Mon 19 – Sat 24 Aug 2019

The Studio, Edinburgh

Part of Edinburgh International Festival

In The Media

FEATURE INTERVIEW: Robert Softley Gale

The Guardian

“…a brilliant, brainy and beautiful piece that leaves you with generous answers as well as multiple questions.”

The List

“Honest, gripping and emotively intimate, this is a must see. A very importance piece of theatre which educates as well as entertains.”

Edinburgh Guide

“… compelling deliberations on the ways in which men with disabilities negotiate their gender identity and sexuality.”

The Times

“… a warm and funny experience that achieves what all the best theatre does: open a window on other lives…”

The Independent

“Sharp humour and glimmers of hope weave through the piece as they start to poke fun at their own disability.”

The Stage

“…celebrating both strength and vulnerability while taking preconceptions of disability to the edge.”

The Wee Review

“Provocative without being confrontational, it is a rich and intelligent production that cajoles even as it seduces.”

Edinburgh Festivals Magazine

Photos & Videos

A young man with curly brown hair and a beard is on his knees on the ground, he is lying against a wooden chair, He is wearing pink trousers and a blue shirt. HIs expression looks upset.

A middle aged man is on the black floor of a stage, with the wall lit up red behind him. He has his knees on the ground and one fist to the floor, the other is resting on his thigh. He is wearing pink trousers, a blue long sleeved top and he looks determined.

Two men line up in front of microphones at the front of the stage that has been lit red. There is a woman in between them, she has long blonde hair and is wearing a blue dress. She appears to be in the middle of signing and her mouth is open wide in a shocked expression.

A smiling middle aged man sits on a wooden chair holding a microphone in one hand and flashing an 'OK' sign with his other hand. Beside him is a table and chairs that a few other men are sprawled out over them. On his other side there is a young woman with long hair sitting on the floor and signing.

Four actors at the front of a smokey stage. The man at the front is holding onto the arms of the two men either side of him, as if they are wrestling. The man at the back is sat in a wheelchair and has a fist up in the air as if cheering the others on.

A man and a woman on stage. The man is sat down with a microphone in front of him and appears to be talking. He appears to be middle aged and is wearing a long sleeved blue top and pink trousers. The woman next to him is standing and she appears to be signing. Above their heads, there is a projected caption that reads 'and she thought I was him. His own mother confused us.'

A close up shot of a woman playing guitar and singing. She appears to be in her late twenties, she has long wavy brown hair. We can see the torso of a man beside her.

Two men sit opposite each other in wooden chairs. They are arm wrestling. Both men appear middle aged. The man on the left is wearing pink trousers and a blue long sleeved top and the man on the right is wearing a yellow shirt and blue trousers.

A man sits in his wheelchair at the back of the stage, there is brief glimpse of a woman behind him. Above his head there is a projection that reads 'Nothing is without purpose- it all comes from intention, attempts to express. A body that struggles against itself.'

A bald man lies on his belly on the stage. He has one foot raised behind him.

A man in a blue shirt and blue trousers sits in his wheelchair in the middle of a dark stage. Three other actors appear to be going in circles around him.

Three people gather around a microphone, two men and a woman. One man is sat in a wheelchair, the other in a wooden chair and the woman is standing. The man in the wheelchair and the woman both have their mouths open as if mid speech. The other man has his mouth closed and appears to be listening.

A man and a woman are sat next to each other on stage. They are both smiling. The man is talking into a microphone and the woman next to him appears to be signing what he is saying.

Four male performers clustered on a slightly smokey looking stage. Two of them are in wheelchairs, the other two are standing. Their ages appear to range from young to middle aged and they are dressed in various coloured shirts and jeans. They all appear to be reaching out to grab a man in a yellow T shirt who is standing in the middle of them all.

A young man in a yellow T shirt strikes a pose in the middle of the stage, he has his arms up and tensed, showing off his muscles. We see the shadowy figures of three other actors in the background who appear to be looking at him.

A middle aged man sits in his wheelchair and talks into a microphone. The stage is lit a dark blue. Next to the man is a young woman signing.

Bright white lights shine from the back of the stage, rendering the people on it silhouettes. We can see the outlines of four male actors, two of which are in wheelchairs, approaching microphones at the front of the stage.

This video is an interview with Robert Softley Gale made by the Edinburgh International Festival as part of a series of interviews they filmed for the festival in 2019. Apologies for the lack of captions – this video was made by the EIF.

Information from the 2016 production

Purposeless Movements was originally made in co-production with Tramway

Purposeless Movements 2016 programme

2016 Flyer

2016 Production Photos

There are 4 actors in a line along the back of the stage. 2 are standing and two are in wheelchairs. The back of the stage looks like a dying fire.

An actor in a suit jacket and T shirt stands with his mouth closed in front of a microphone. He looks forlorn.

Another actor in a suit jacket stands in front of a microphone.He is smiling and has his arms behind his head.

An actor with a ginger beard and curly hair stands in front of a microphone looking stern. We see a woman in the background signing.

Pete EdAn actor in a wheelchair in front of a microphone. A woman is signing in the background. wards is sitting in a wheelchair behind a microphone. His head is tilted back. His eyes are closed and his mouth is open. His expression is one of relaxation. Behind Pete, to the right is Amy Cheskine in mid sign

An actor looks down at a box with a GoPro attached to it and waves his hands in front of it.

3 actors are gathered around a table. 2 of them sit on chairs and one of them is sat on the table.

An actor pulls a small towel away from around another actor.

An actor sits at a table with a towel around his arm. 3 other actors that are gathered around the table appear to working on something.

4 actors line up at the front of the stage, all in front of their own respective microphones. There is a woman in the background signing.

We see the 4 actors lined up on stage from a different angle.

4 actors line up at the front of the stage with microphones in front of each of them. They have purple spotlights shining down on each of them. A woman in the background signs.

A man and woman adjust a microphone stand together.

A man lies on the floor of the stage in front of an empty wheelchair. We see a man in a wheelchair behind him.

2 actors are standing centre stage. One lifts the others arm as two more actors watch.

An actor looks sad in front of a microphone. We see 3 actors blurry in the background.

An actor speaks while someone holds the microphone for him.

4 actors line up at the front of the stage. Each of them has a microphone and an empty wooden chair in front of them.

Multiple actors lay on top of each other in a heap onstage. An actor sat in a wheelchair behind them talks into a microphone.

2 actors lie on a littered stage. They are looking at each other and locking arms.

Reviews from 2016

“…this is one brilliantly shrewd triumph of a show…it’s theatre with an intensity of purpose, honest even unflinchingly graphic, wickedly funny and memorably impressive at every level”

The Herald

“real laugh-out-loud stuff…wit, charm and pathos…the music and song is an integral, and often beautiful, part of the show’s emotional integrity”

The Scotsman

“…a genuinely engaging, touching and amusing production…”

Broadway Baby

“Unflinching, inventive, and tender…”