Bobby Baker live production made in collaboration with Polona Boloh Brown

60 minutes

Commissioned by LIFT Festival 2001 in association with Warwick Arts Centre for St Luke’s Church, Holloway, London

Remembering Pandora (from Greek mythology), Bobby Baker opened one giant box to reveal ten others – containing foodstuffs and household products. She presented these one at a time, telling true stories from her life which connected to the contents of each box. The stories were all about misfortunes – some insignificant, some catastrophic. They were recalled in chronological order and accompanied by commentaries sung by a choir of nine singers, with music composed by Jocelyn Pook.

Credits

Co-director: Polona Boloh Brown

Composer: Jocelyn Pook

Original Choir: Jeremy Avis, Harvey Brough, Jacquelyn Dankworth, Sianed Jones, Melanie Pappenheim, Tony Purves, Kim Scrivener, Brooke Shelley and Belinda Sykes.

Film: Deborah May and Jess Baynes

Commissioner: LIFT ’01 and Warwick Arts Centre

Daily Life Ltd. & Arts Admin Production

Box Story was funded by Arts Council England

Box Story is the final work in the ‘Daily Life Series’ which comprise five performances that span the decade between 1991 to 2001. Other works include: Kitchen Show (1991), How to Shop (1993), Take a Peek! (1995), and Grown-up School (1999).