Writing
Theatre Writing
Into the Sublime
“Step into the unknown. We begin in silence, in shadow, at the place where the veil between the visible world and the invisible is at its thinnest. Tonight, you will witness more than art—you will experience a journey into realms where the forces of nature, spirit, and magick collide. Let your mind wander. This is not a mere performance, but a passage… into the sublime.”
A performance comprising five distinct scenes, each showcasing different effects and sensations. Each scene is a work of contemporary art that explores ideas about magick, art and science, the material world and the afterlife, and visions of the Divine. The emphasis is on the tension between the real and the sublime, creating illusions and phantasmagoria through analogue means. Written and directed by Gillian McIver.
Apologia
In this play, the notorious magician Cagliostro mounts the self-defence he never made during his troubled lifetime.
He shares his troubled background and his education in magic and mysteries. His beloved wife and partner in crime, Serafina, offers her own perspective on their wild ride through 18th-century Europe and its flamboyant characters. Was she one of Casanova’s conquests – or did she stay loyal? Accused of everything from igniting the French Revolution to consorting with the Devil, the Count passionately addresses the charges against him. Actor Maurizio Molino portrays Cagliostro as a flawed but magnetically charismatic antihero. The audience finally gets to hear Cagliostro’s Apologia after 300 years of mystery and controversy. The play is infused with historical research and recent biographies, bringing Cagliostro’s compelling story to life.
Premiered at the Camden Fringe 2024 with Maurizio Molino as Cagliostro and directed by Jagoda Kamov. New performances are coming. Writer/producer Gillian McIver.
Writings
- ‘Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr and the world of dreams’ in The Palgrave Handbook of the Vampire 2024. >
- The Mystagogue: Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg and the Art of the Occult’ The Swedenborg Review IV, 2023
- A World Made of Art’ in Screening the Art World ed. Temenuga Trifonova, University of Amsterdam Press 2022.
- Scenography and Art History ed. ASTRID VON Rosen and Viveka Kjellmer. Bloomsbury Press 2020
- TWIXT 118 pp. Published by Nant Studio, 2012. ISBN 978-0-9563567-4-1 Collected published critical writings.
- Tarkovsky’s River Photography and text 2012 Published by Parallel Project.
- Site Specific Art: Art as Site Response E-book about site-specific art, including history, theory and showcase of projects
ARTICLES: Much of my published work is collected here
Papers / Presentations:
- ‘Egyptomania, Alchemy and Magic: decolonizing magic in contemporary art curation’ Association for Art History Annual Conference, London UCL 2023
- ‘Transnational Curation: the Alchemy Exhibition’ in Curating Magic British Art Network Symposium. 2022.
- ‘The Mystagogue: Philip James De Loutherbourg, Magic and Early Cinema’ Trans-States, University of Northampton 2022.
- ‘Philip James De Loutherbourg, an Illustrated Lecture.’ The Swedenborg Centre, 2022.
- ‘Akhenaten: The Tragedy of the Great House’ Shady Abdel Salaam’s unrealized film. Shadow Screens: Unmade, Unseen, Unreleased Film and Television Sheffield Hallam University 2022.
- The Colonial Curse of “Egyptomania” and the Postcolonial Pharaonic. UAAC Conference, 2021
- “Colour: between Art History and Cinema” Ways of Seeing Public Lecture, National Gallery London, Association for Art History November 2018.
- “An illusion that feels real” – adapting Dutch Golden Age painting into cinema and photography” in the panel Reimagining the Iconic: Adapting and Adaptations of the Pictorial Image, UAAC Conference 2017 Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff Canada, October 2017