'At Twilight: A play for two actors, three musicians, one dancer, eight masks (and a donkey costume)’, in collaboration with artist Simon Starling, was a series of performances that took place on the 26, 27 and 28 August at Holmwood House, a National Trust of Scotland property on the south side of Glasgow. They accompanied Starling's exhibition 'At Twilight' at The Common Guild, 2 July-4 September 2016.
'At Twilight: A play for two actors, three musicians, one dancer, eight masks (and a donkey costume)’ references ‘At The Hawk’s Well’, a play by W.B. Yeats that was written and performed 100 years ago, in the midst of the First World War, when he was working with the poet Ezra Pound.
The performance makes use of masks made in collaboration with Yasuo Miichi and costumes made in collaboration with Kumi Sakurai and Atelier Hinode that form part of the exhibition. It also includes 'The Hawk's Dance' – specially devised by renowned choreographer Javier de Frutos, working with Scottish Ballet and dancer Thomas Edwards – presented on film and accompanied by live music from Chicago-based musician Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society.
Holmwood House is a historic property owned by conservation charity the National Trust for Scotland. Described as Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's finest domestic design, it was built in 1857-8 for James Couper, a local businessman. The house is an echo of the context in which the original Yeats play was presented – a large private home in Cavendish Square, London – while the grounds offer a remarkable background reminiscent of the forest setting that recurs throughout the piece, both in the blasted landscape backdrop of WWI and the Ashdown Forest setting in which Yeats and Pound worked together. The performance includes an opportunity to experience the heritage of this remarkable property and its grounds.