Dead Language
"Dead Language imagines a future in which the work of art stars like Banksy is so popular that fans trade in the DNA of the artists themselves, creating clone gangs of Emins and Warhols that roam the city.
In part, Dead Language is an investigation of the limits of intellectual property rights, but it also a smart and spirited examination of the way that the value of art shifts with time and context."
Ekow Eshun
Artistic Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts & Cultural Commentator
"And that reminds me, Fuck your performance art - FP is magick and that’s what we came here for whether we argue about it or not. FP is beyond the predispositions we hold, whether you believe or not, once there in the metaphorical circle they’ve cast around the environment you know something potent is unfolding before you, for those with eyes to see, I suggest it resembles the moment the lotus bursting into blossom. Art on the inside, Blood on the outside - if you are not sacrificing for your art and magick it is lifeless and begging to be infused with a portion of what you are given from out of the depths of the nothingness and beyond - FoolishPeople know this and their work resounds their experience in it’s potency, divinity, and splendorous beauty."
"Obvious survivors of the harshest of Nova conditions, FoolishPeople's performance of Dead Language at EsoZone in Portland shimmered with life force and various less identifiable radiations. Could this be the first theatre requiring tinfoil hats? Whatever the reason, John Harrigan and the other members of his troupe move on stage in a way you can feel all the way in the balcony. Their combination of esoteric symbolism and ritual elements provides an interactive, gnostic experience that will leave you feeling...different. Come see a challenging vision that will leave you scrambling to establish digital rights management for your soul. I cannot recommend attending the next FoolishPeople performance strongly enough. After all, someone should probably be keeping an eye on them."
Bill Whitcomb
Author
The Magician's Companion
Terra-Incognita
On March 31st I entered the 'rabid hole' at Gallery 491 in East London.
Sucked into a strange world filled with strange creatures, strange noises and strange objects, I felt utterly at home. I found myself in a manifested vision of Gnosis, so intimately known to me.
In this wonderous place, one was the dreamer and the dream, the observer and the observed. In those attending individuals capable to receive what was evoked, a tiny seed of gnostic realization has been planted – a seed well worth nurturing as it may grow and take you onto a journey leading to absolute liberation and freedom.
John Harrigan and his FoolishPeople troupe skilfully engaged all senses in a way that any resistance to becoming fully engaged was futile and one had to surrender to a magical myth unfolding – a myth of spiritual awakening and transformation. We witnessed and experienced the pains of mystical death and resurrection and the strange beauties and wonders of spiritual and esoteric realization.
On a personal level and interpretation this was the true magic of this night – the urging for all of us to begin to explore our inner Terra Incognita, the unknown world, the hidden universe that lays dormant as we are concerned only with the Eidolon and are caught in the archontic spider-web of the profane world.
Let us re-claim our lost spiritual heritage and establish again the ‘kingdom’ within and through this manifest a new world also in the outer.
It is possible, do it now!
David Beth - Tau Melchizedek
Sovereign Grand Master
Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua, La Couleuvre Noire
‘Ecclesia Gnostica Aeterna’
Apostolic Gnostic Bishop
As audience, we offer these same congratulations in that we did indeed come away feeling like our heads had been turned inside out by about 1500 mics of L.S.D., despite the fact that we made the decision to remain completely sane and sober in order to know what we had really seen and what we had not.
All the cast were brilliant. Every one of them possessed their own unique star quality, which under the direction of Mr. Harrigan were truly allowed to shine forth. There were also some fine musicians to entertain us, some incidental and others a part of the story, who would be well worth the travel to experience all on their own.
Observing the audience itself as much as the play offered another level of entertainment. Particularly memorable was to have seen their reactions to the very first spirit manifestation, a genuinely dark and disturbing figure that appeared seemingly from nowhere- thanks to some very clever distraction techniques?- and the fear on the faces of those he approached and interacted with. I suspect that some of them went away with their perceptions of ‘reality’ permanently altered. In a good way. We hope.
Those who were not in attendance have truly missed out on a uniquely mind bending experience. Shame on you. Make sure you catch the next one.
Mandrake Speaks - Nathaniel J Harris, author of of Witcha- A Book of Cunning.
Ghost Redux
"Foolish People are one of the most magickal and cutting edge ritual theatre companies currently extant in the UK." - Oracle Occult Magazine
Dark Nights of the Soul: Cycle IV Congealed
"Cycle IV was absolutely astounding... by far the best yet. Dark Nights goes from strength to strength.
Dark Nights of the Soul: Cycle III Emergence
"Their work is clever, inventive, confrontational and often hilarious. Combining magic ritual, interactive audience participation and a healthy-dose of pigs’ entrails, Foolish people is the quixotic brainchild of actor/director John Harrigan. You’ll either love them or hate them, but their unique brand of visceral and physical theatre (they will literally get right in your face) will make you squirm and wriggle"
I did thoroughly enjoy the Dark Night - the energy generated was way cool as ever.. definately Plutonic, also rather Martial I found. This cycle was most strange and definately surreal. Almost as though it were a linking narrative. As always John introduced some excellent elements and ideas/concepts. I took the time to scan the room on several occasions and noticed that the majority of the audience were mesmerised and clearly affected/disturbed by the production. Probably due to the energy that was generated and the surreal nature of the anti-spectacle
Dark Nights of the Soul: Cycle II The Fluid Flesh
"By turns inspiring, thought provoking and uncomfortable (and that's not just because you're sitting on a cold stone floor) this is not passive entertainment in any sense. With a very confrontational style and the cast moving about the room in and out of the audience (or hardware as we are referred throughout) there is nowhere to hide and the normal gap between subject and object, actor and audience, theatre and reality is blurred to incomprehension. Even during the interval the cast keep up their performance, moving through the audience or positioned at various stations around the room, keeping the experience deeply immersive. This is continued right up to the end where we are led to a cliff hanger and then all abruptly told to fuck off, thrown out of the theatre into the street, further denying us an opportunity to see the cast with their masks off. The illusion still clinging to us and carried into the 'real' world.."
"When you have been running around this planet as long as I have you come to appreciate the pleasures that life/the dance has to offer. Last's nights 'ritual' performance of Cycle 2 of 'The Dark Nights of The Soul' was one of these.
As an 'event/spectacle' it was most excellent both visually and textually. I particularly liked the theme of 'shape-shifting' which coincided with the lunar cycle synchronistcially for it was a full moon. A Wolf Moon - traditionally associated with shape-shifting and transformation.
I would like in closing to say thank you and well done to John Harrigan and all The Foolish People who made last nights dark night of the soul a particularly unique and entertaining evening. This is theatre in the tradition of 'off-off-Broadway' - the fringe of the fringe. The 'liminal-space' that makes 'A Christmas Carol' seem like a bad fucking nightmare."
For what its worth, I think John should be awarded with the awe inspiring honour of 'Magus of the Trygodia', a rare award given by the Dionysian Underground only to those who produce examplary initiatory Dionysian theatre, as yet unawarded to anyone, and with only three other candidates likely to recieve a similar honour in the near future (JC, OD and AR). "
Dark Nights of the Soul: Cycle I The Wyrm Shroud
Foolish People's Dark Nights of the Soul is a truly unique production. By turns darkly comic, surreal, horrific, genuinely thought provoking and certainly not for the faint of heart. Verdict: Dark Nights of the Soul is pure Fortean magick. 10/10
"FoolishPeople transcend drama and magic!, combining elements of both at the expense of neither. This troupe of bards should provide inspiration to anyone interested in exploring the magic!al side of the dramatic arts. I cannot recommend this enough- I have scarcely felt so alive while passively consuming."
"There are a few times when you are sitting in a place and you have to think 'This is an iconic moment - something really important is happening here.' The Dark Nights is a shout to complacency - it's transgressive and antinomian, clearly inspired by the Chaos magic movement. YET (and it's an important 'yet').... it cries out to the sacredness of the Earth, to the living and alive relationships between people and Nature."
Dr Christina Oakley Harrington
Ruined Steel
Who owns your soul? Have you sold it to your corporate masters for survival?
Would it be heaven or hell if they could keep you alive perpetually without your permission as long as it served their brand? Because soon, even the afterlife may be digitized.
The musicians who've sold their souls at the crossroads should be thankful for their fate with the devil, because Hell has nothing on Ruined Steel.
Chris Joseph
Sauceruney.net
A dark, minimalist play, Ruined Steel is not for the faint hearted. It is bloody, violent and filled with intense performances like primal screams. The abiding effect is one of disquiet and a wondering at just what big, powerful companies are up to right now.
Richard Freeman: CFZ
The Singularity
The Singularity is nervous, convulsive, vividly compelling theatre. FoolishPeople engineer an exhilarating collision between Artaud and Cronenberg, to effect a total experience whose immersive power is deeply unsettling and relentlessly alive. This is a young company to watch... - possibly from behind the sofa.
Chris Goode: Fringe First Winner & Artistic Director Of Camden People's Theatre
Enochian Language of Angels
John Harrigan's Enochian Language of Angels was another controversial play influenced by near death experiences, the visiting of heaven and hell and the sphere of good and evil. A clear confrontation with the inevitable choices of death was translated on to stage imaginatively by the writer. it is a subject we hear and read about so often and yet rarely have the courage to analyse such possible realities. Asmadai the role of dilemma was interpreted originally by John Harrigan. This proved to be a powerful and shocking play full of the brazen symbolism of this borderline state, containing interesting angles on life.
Sophi Cockayne: Comet Leisure
Void
"In 24 years of teaching I have never before seen such a polished moving piece from one with so little training. I have now seen the solo several times and am still emotionally moved. A remarkable achievement of great maturity"
Mary Tear:
Choreographer
Drowning (baptising) a fairy in a kids paddling pool was truly inspired. I would like to affirm and thank all the Foolish People who took part in Cycle IV. This cycle definately went up to eleven (on a scale of one to ten).
I await Cycle V with anticipation."
David Blank - Editor - Oracle Occult Magazine