Dead Cat Bounce by Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera explores financial alchemy and the unmaking of reality in the time of catastrophe. Dwelling in the strange light of speculative times, Dead Cat Bounce is a story of unpayable debts, entangled histories and repeated jokes.
Dead Cat Bounce unfolds over five interwoven vignettes of pre-emptive catastrophe. In China (2016), five hitmen arrive in court to discover that they have each subcontracted another to kill the same real estate developer. At the palace of Louis XVI (1788), thirty Swiss virgins are having their teeth checked in order to secure the national debt. In Miami (2027), an insurance broker redrafts a contract for a house that is already underwater. In Jerusalem (589 BC), the prophet Jeremiah weeps incessantly for the impending wrath of an unforgiving god. In earthquake-struck Japan (1855), a brothel-owner pays tribute to a catfish deity as she surveys the sunlit ruins of the city.
Dead Cat Bounce will invite visitors to immerse themselves in the sounds and voices of the oratorio, presented in the form of a multi-channel audio installation, and to step into an expanded performance stage, populated by structures and sculptures that materialise the stories of Dead Cat Bounce’s main characters.
A performance of Dead Cat Bounce will happen on 12 October 2024, 7–8pm as part of No Bounds Festival.
Access
Soft Ground is on the first floor of a building on The Moor in Sheffield city centre. It has lift access and an accessible toilet. More information on access and travel can be found on the Soft Ground page on the Arts Catalyst website.
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