Photo Credit: Richard Campbell

Those Eyes, That Mouth

32, Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, Scottish tour and Former General Security Building, Beirut

August 2003, December 2005

Staged in a crumbling Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh immediately prior to its restoration, Those Eyes, That Mouth was a devised show exploring the withdrawal from the world of a photographer, played by Cait Davis.

Various possible narratives are kept tantalisingly in play- has she withdrawn due to disappointment in love, insane jealousy, career disappointment, an obsession with Vermeer’s Girl With A Pearl Earring, or because of a murder? Inspired by texts as diverse as Jonathan Franzen’s How To Be Alone, Roman Polanski’s Repulsion and Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, the production promenaded the audience through three levels of domestic space, in very close proximity to the central character and the presence of a haunting, brooding male singer, David Paul Jones composing his own music.

The production won 5 awards at Edinburgh 2003 including a Fringe First for the text, created by Ben Harrison, Cait Davis and David Paul Jones, a Stage Award for Best Actress and a Herald Angel Award for Cait Davis.

The production was recreated in November 2005 as part of a capacity building project in site-responsive theatre created in collaboration with the British Council. The text was adjusted to resonate with the extraordinary building that was the former General Security Building in Beirut. Cait Davis recreated the central role with David Paul Jones continuing as composer and musician. The Grid Iron technical team were backed by a group of designers and technicians in training from Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt.

Mark Brown, Scotland on Sunday

Their wonderful new piece, Those Eyes, That Mouth, provides exhilarating, deeply emotive evidence of their leading role in the movement to redefine our understanding of the theatrical. . .Ben Harrison’s company strives to awaken our humanity by enlivening our senses. With this startlingly original, poignant piece they are utterly successful. . .this is contemporary theatre at its very best.

Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

Ben Harrison’s production at Abercromby Place is one of those perfectly-sculpted theatre events in which every element seems to glow with an inner sense of beauty and meaning. . .The show also resonates with dozens of references to other works about heartbreak, haunting, breakdown and loss as a way of deepening the emotional texture of the event; and as Fringe productions go, this is about as rich, beautiful and completely satisfying an 80 minutes as you are ever likely to experience.

Kate Bassett, Independent on Sunday

Grid Iron’s thrilling site-specific show. . .sharp twists and imaginative surprises to knock you sideways.

Susannah Clapp, The Observer

Grid Iron are the magicians of site-specific performances. . .unwrapping surprises at each turn… visionary glimpses [which] make you look again at the city outside.