The Bullet And The Bass Trombone
Words and music by Timothy X Atack, directed by Tanuja Amarasuriya
There’s a concert orchestra, trapped in a city during a military coup. As violence erupts, with pitched battles breaking out around them, the orchestra becomes separated – lost – hoping and trying to find their way back to each other. The composer is left to tell the story.
With an intricate, fractured narrative and haunting soundtrack, The Bullet and The Bass Trombone is a modern hymn to people and places now lost. The story comes together from the smallest of pieces, like a mosaic: a whistling bird in the jungle; a gunfight on an airport runway; a murder in a forest of music stands. It’s a fugue of voices, memories and sounds, played by a lone performer trying to make sense of the chaos.
“Hauntingly beautiful”
What's On Stage
"Absolutely spectacular. My heart was in my mouth and I was on the edge of my seat for the whole show."
Audience response
Credits:
Performed by Timothy X Atack
Readings and reconstructions by Malcolm Hamilton, Vic Llewellyn, Jessica Macdonald, Paul Mundell, Leiza McLeod, Gemma Paintin, Sylvia Rimat, Kate Yedigaroff
Written by Timothy X Atack Directed by Tanuja Amarasuriya Original Music & Sound Design by Timothy X Atack Designed by Tanuja Amarasuriya Lighting Design by Aaron J Dootson (preview), Anthony Dunn (tour) Production photography by Paul Blakemore.
A Bristol Old Vic Ferment commission. Produced by MAYK. Developed with support from Parabola Arts Centre, Live Theatre, The Empty Space and Forest Fringe. Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
“Harrowing, intelligent, beautifully crafted and deftly performed. And ultimately incredibly uplifting in an impossible-to-describe kind of way.”
Andrew Haydon, Postcards from the Gods
"Tonight's show still has me reeling. Utterly amazing. Captivating simplicity. Aurally sublime. A totally absorbing piece."
Audience response
The Bullet And The Damage Done (a remix)
A late-night remix performance from the world of The Bullet And The Bass Trombone created especially for the inaugural edition of the Bristol Proms.
Built largely from unheard recordings and interviews, The Bullet And The Damage Done is a piece of music unfolding in front of you: a summoning, a raising of ghosts. It’s a story of what happens when we try to sing songs about the things that terrify us.
A specially designed CD EP/Programme that accompanies the show is available. You can listen to excerpts from the CD on our Soundcloud.
“Watching Bullet is the closest I've come to the experience of seeing Godspeed [You! Black Emperor] play live: it has the same long-drawn-out drones, the same careful build-up to sustained emotional crescendos – and again, the same politics, the same humanity, fear, and hope. It takes a long time for hope to emerge in Bullet, and when it does, it floods the dark room with sunlight: a magical, uplifting experience.”
Maddy Costa, States of Deliquessence.
“This isn’t a show you see. This is a show you breathe, you hear, you feel in your arteries. It’s almost impossible to describe. Like music.”
Emma Geraghty, Voices of Wonder
"Completely engaging, transported me back to stories I heard in Rwanda and Sierra Leone."
Audience response
"Utterly transported by The Bullet & The Bass Trombone: haunting, spellbinding & exhilarating."
Audience response
The Bullet And The Bass Trombone toured to: Bristol Old Vic, New Wolsey Theatre (Pulse Festival), the National Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre, Axis Arts Centre, British Council/Caravan showcase of new english performance (Brighton Festival), Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, The House (Plymouth University), Manchester Royal Exchange, Chapter Arts Centre (Cardiff), Quarterhouse (Folkestone)