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Card Table Artifice
Location:
Jane Mallet Theatre, Toronto
Card Table Artifice
Music by Gavin Bryars
Book by David Ben
Performed by The Art of Time Ensemble (with special guest Gavin Bryars)
Live Narration by R.H. Thomson
Card Manipulation by David Ben
Directed by David Ben
Set and Lighting Design by Glenn Davidson
Video Design by Cameron Davis
Sound Design by John Lott
Produced by Magicana
Jane Mallet Theatre
June 13 and 14, 8:00 pm.
Running Time – 60 minutes
No Intermission
World Premiere
(note by David Ben)
In 1902, a card cheat – S. W. Erdnase (a pseudonym) – self-published what would become the seminal text for sleight-of-hand, The Expert at the Card Table.
In 1992, inspired by that text and, oddly enough, the daily BBC broadcast of off-shore weather reports, composer Gavin Bryars and Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz created A Man in a Room, Gambling, ten pieces for string quartet with accompanying narration.
In 2014, David Ben, master sleight-of-hand artist, lifelong student of Erdnase, and card cheating, brought a new perspective to the Bryars-Muñoz collaboration. The result is Card Table Artifice, and is performed here by the Art of Time Ensemble (accompanied by Gavin Bryars), with live narration by R.H. Thomson, and card table artistry by David Ben.
