The Balloonists

February 23-24, 1996
Vancouver New Music, Quadruple Bill
Performance Works, Granville Island, Vancouver BC
written by Marc Diamond,
directed by Penelope Stella
with Beverly Pales and Bill Pozzobon
music by Martin Gotfrit
lighting by Barry Hegland
performance object by Greg Snider

The schematic gondola of a balloon in aluminum tubing on a 9-foot circular platform was mounted on an inflated life-raft. The gondola tilts and rock with the actor’s movements; the structure is miked so that live sounds can be amplified and processed for the soundscape. Shock-cords attached to the frame disappear up into the flies, giving an impression of suspension; lighting on stalks at the top of the framework maintain illumination as the structure moves.