MAXIMUM MACHINE
MAXIMUM MACHINE is an archaic gymnasium for human experimentation, a measuring chamber for physical effort and psychological endurance. Trapped, the performers seek respite, ways to cheat the system, short cuts, tactics to confuse and escape routes into fantasy. The madness of their predicament induces a kind of neurosis that swings between absurd humor and almost unbearable tension.
“After Blind Faith I thought to myself “whatever next? ’A visit to the world of 18th century scientific invention at the London Science Museum provided me with the object of fascination, which inspired this piece: The Maximum Machine, designed by Desaguliers, was a device to measure the maximum amount of physical work a man could do. A scaffold structure in the shape of a simple house provided the apparatus for experimentation on a human guinea pig, which performed a strenuous physical routine repeatedly until he reached the Maximum! So what would define maximum? Total collapse? Death? The absurdity of this primitive device launched me into a fantasy where the world of the stage would be a re-invention of the maximum machine, a testing chamber for physical experimentation and banal scientific rituals, where the performers would be both scientist and subject. “
Maximum Machine was funded by the Arts Council Of England, featured in the Spring Loaded season at The Place Theatre, London and toured throughout the UK in 2000 – 2001, as well as performances at the Lausanne summer festival, Switzerland 2001, with support from the British Council.
PRESS:
“Maximum Machine dances cunningly from one sector to another, often with a joky humor that belies the toughness, invention and sheer craft of the choreography”
Mary Brennon, The Herald, Scotland
“Snaith is an original. Her sets (conceived with Barnaby Stone) are works of art, ingeniously put in motion by her dancers and her ideas are both clever and magical”
The Guardian, London
“Gravity and productivity are tested. Activities are painstakingly measured. Soon the pace escalates into frantic physical comedy. Snaith observes the absurdly strenuous, even joyless, rhythms with an underlying mixture of admiration and humor”
Donald Hutera, Dance Europe