Claire Cunningham’s Thank You Very Much set for Glasgow performances

Thank You Very Much, the ambitious and powerful new show from Glasgow-based performer and choreographer Claire Cunningham, is set to visit Glasgow for its first Scottish performances.
By Dawn Renton
Published 30th Oct 2019, 07:15 GMT
Photo: Hugo GlendinningPhoto: Hugo Glendinning
Photo: Hugo Glendinning

The production is a first-time collaboration between the National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival, where it premiered to critical acclaim in July before touring to Dusseldorf earlier this month.

Thank You Very Much sees Claire Cunningham use the phenomenon of Elvis tribute artists as a springboard to explore impersonation, identity, acceptance and the challenges of being yourself.

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Audiences are invited to join an evening informed by the experiences of an international company of leading disabled performers. Through the lens of the competitive world of tribute artists, among the messiness of navigating society’s ideas of normality, the ensemble takes apart the myth of how bodies should be and have been trained to be. With her characteristic wit and honesty Cunningham asks us all…what is “the wonder of you”?

Glasgow-based choreographer and performer Claire Cunningham is one of Europe’s most acclaimed disabled artists. Thank You Very Much is her first work for MIF. The National Theatre of Scotland first collaborated with Claire Cunningham on Ménage à Trois (Paterson’s Land at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and touring) in 2012.

Claire Cunningham is a performer and creator of multi-disciplinary performance based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists, Cunningham’s work is often rooted in the study and use/misuse of her crutches and the exploration of the potential of her own specific physicality with a conscious rejection of traditional dance techniques (developed for non-disabled bodies).

Thank You Very Much is commissioned by Manchester International Festival, National Theatre of Scotland and Perth Festival in association with tanzhaus nrw and Dance Umbrella and produced by Manchester International Festival and National Theatre of Scotland.

Catch Thank You Very Much at the Couper Institute, Clarkston from October 31 to November 3

Tickets are available from www.nationaltheatrescotland.com

Related topics:National Theatre of ScotlandEurope