The Dark Carnival

Photo by Mihaela Bodlovic

Who’d have thought, that when we died, we didn’t die completely?
Our consciousness goes on a bit. It lingers on, discreetly.

The Dark Carnival tells the story - through anarchic song, raucous rhyme and gorgeous visual images – of the dead beneath the earth who, upon dying, discover that death is not actually the end. Incredulous at their continuity, they form their own necropolitan community, looking with sympathy and scorn upon the unsuspecting living, who naively tend to the graves above.

But something is afoot. God has put heaven up for rent, looking for a better prospect somewhere else. The angels, at a loss, sit on cotton wool clouds, drinking cans of Tennent’s. When news reaches the cemetery, an underground revolution begins, led by the stoic Mrs Mark and her band of necropolitans.

The Dark Carnival is a new pop-opera created by Vanishing Point featuring live music and songs by A New International.

A New International describe their music as “an evocative mixture of cinematic strings, circus lights, carnival and cabaret, music hall, gypsy, chanson, a little bit of folk, a little bit of flamenco too, yet with pop at its beating heart.” Reference points for the uninitiated include Scott Walker, Calexico, Beirut, Morricone.

When the curtain comes down on the main-stage version of The Dark Carnival, an innovative, storytelling version of the show featuring A New International lead singer, Biff Smith, and a virtuoso storyteller - one of the actors from The Dark Carnival - will travel to town halls, tearooms and theatres across Scotland from Spring 2019. This will be developed as part of BRAW of on the Isle of Eigg.