Welcoming Jason Singh’s critically acclaimed The Fleet to St Mary’s
A critically acclaimed double bill of film and live music, plus spoken word, came to Scilly this spring - part of the 2024 Culture on Scilly programme, a series of events and projects that will become part of our Cultural Centre and Museum offer.
Sound artist, nature beatboxer and composer Jason Singh performed his live soundtrack to John Grierson’s monumental silent documentary film Drifters at venues across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in March - and appeared at The Lantern at the Old Town Inn, St Mary’s on Thursday 21 March.
Premiering alongside Battleship Potemkin in 1929, Drifters follows North Sea herring trawlermen through their dramatic daily routines as well as the industry’s struggles between tradition, modernity, and nature.
Originally commissioned by BFI, Jason’s critically acclaimed, and totally unique solo score combines live vocal sound effects, beatboxing techniques and live sampling to create a thrilling cinematic experience. The South West tour took place in partnership with Carn to Cove in Cornwall and The Old Town Inn on St Mary’s.
44 people attended the show at Old Town Inn, including a group of students from Year 6 at the academy where Jason had led a beatboxing workshop on Thursday morning.
The venue was set out for a combination of the cinema nights with a collection of sofas in front of the stage and additional cabaret seating.
The afternoon get-in allowed for technical rehearsals and this ensured a very slick use of projection and audio equipment, combining a small amount of specialist kit with the OTI’s in house sound and lighting. Sight lines and acoustics were excellent and the venue felt comfortably full.
The audience included regular attendees, teachers, museum staff and a number of visitors.
We handed out a feedback form to audience members, who rated the overall event as excellent (70%) or good (30%)
We were delighted to receive the following feedback from one audience member:
“If it comes to a venue near you, I thoroughly recommend Jason Singh’s ‘Drifters’ - I went to his performance at Old Town Inn on the Isles of Scilly. Jason Singh is an extraordinary vocal artist using beat-boxing techniques as live accompaniment to a silent documentary film from 1929 about Scottish Trawler fleets in the North Sea.
Supported by Arts Council England the show has toured the coastal regions from Shetland in the far North to here, the furthest South. The work is astonishing, combining the beauty of the film’s imagery (much of it innovative for its time) with Singh’s hauntingly mesmerising vocal artistry. During the performance the cadences and rhythms of the musical traditions of Singh’s Indian heritage become increasingly apparent. The artist was kind enough to elaborate on this during the Q&A afterwards, noting how the Indian traditions have their origins in the natural world, and how this complemented the imagery of the film. It’s fabulous. Go.”
Other comments from audience members included:
Please come back and work with Scilly silent films.
Very unusual – perhaps needed more context / introduction.
Brilliant cross-cultural work.
Interesting, a unique pub experience.
Very different, remarkably good evening.
Wonderful coming together of art forms and history.
‘Over the last year, Old Town Inn has been transformed from a slightly tired pub into an inviting, welcoming and lively cultural hub for Scilly. It’s now brilliant and what the islands have needed for years. It is marvellous and bold to see work of this type and calibre brought to this tiny, remote community. That it’s possible - and from the very positive reception - it’s indicative of the huge potential the Islands have as a unique destination for high quality and innovative artistic activity.
About Culture on Scilly
With the support of Arts Council England, we are presenting a range of activities throughout 2024 which will help inform the programme of the new Isles of Scilly Cultural Centre and Museum.
Alongside our regular programme of events, we run and support projects and commissions which enable people to experience high quality arts and culture. We work with partners on Scilly and beyond to deliver work which focuses on community participation, building new audiences, and developing skills – especially for young people on Scilly.
Funding acknowledgment
We were able to bring this production to the Isles of Scilly with Arts Council England funding, and we gratefully acknowledge the opportunities this funding gives us to share exciting cultural events with residents and visitors alike.
