Edward Thomasson

I Woke Up This Morning

I Woke Up This Morning is an one–act play by Edward Thomasson about harmony, disharmony, and falling in and out of time. It was performed Sunday 2 June 2019 at The Community Centre at St Paul’s Church, Clapham, London.

The play follows six members of a fictional gay men’s choir as they learn, repeat and perfect a harmony. While they work together, they share their experiences of connection and alienation in a community where marriage equality, gentrification, hook-up apps and chemsex are changing the ways they relate.

Thomasson makes plays, videos and drawings about the ways implicit and explicit rules of social interaction shape our behavior. His practice at–large explores how performance is used as a tool to navigate personal, interpersonal and occupational problems in contemporary life.

His new play, incorporating dialogue and an original song by composer Soosan Lolovar, was presented by a group of trained and untrained performers recruited through an open call.

Performed by Mark Amura, Joshua Andraos, Robert Hider, Marlon Kameka, Felix Pilgrim and Simon Tipping. Written and directed by Edward Thomasson; music by Soosan Lolovar; and musical Direction by Tim Jackson.

I Woke Up This Morning was also performed in Clapham and Southend–on–Sea, commissioned by Studio Voltaire and Focal Point Gallery.

Supported by Arts Council England and The Elephant Trust.

Edward Thomasson (b. 1985) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include Rhythm And Blues, Westspace, Melbourne (2018); Together, Art Now Series, Tate Britain, London (2017, with Lucy Beech); Volunteers, David Roberts Art Foundation Studio, London (2016); Passive Aggressive 3, Frieze Live, Frieze London (2015, with Lucy Beech); The Present Tense, Chisenhale Gallery, London (2014); Passive Aggressive 2, Camden Arts Centre, London (2014, with Lucy Beech).
Recent group exhibitions and screenings include Brace Brace, 29 Percy Street, London (2017); Artists’ Film Club: Rigid Structure To Liberate Yourself, ICA, London (2016); The Boys, The Girls And The Political, Lisson Gallery London (with Lucy Beech); The Ultimate Vessel, Koppe Astner, Glasgow; Artist Film And Video, Tate Britain, London (all 2015).
Thomasson is represented by Southard Reid, London. His collaborative practice with Lucy Beech is represented by Maureen Paley, London.
Edward Thomasson, I Woke Up This Morning, 2019. Commissioned by Studio Voltaire and Focal Point Gallery. Courtesy of the artist.