Antony Hegarty Working on 'Ambitious' Play With Marina Abramovic and Willem Dafoe

Posted on Feb 16th 2011 3:00PM by Linda Laban
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Don Felix Cervantes

It's not surprising that Antony and the Johnsons have yet to do any touring for their latest album, 'Swanlights.' which was released last October. For one thing, frontman Antony Hegarty is very busy with other engagements. The New York-based singer-songwriter just announced a performance at the TED Conference, a think-tank of progressive and visionary artists, inventors and other movers and shakers, to be held in Long Beach, Calif., on March 1.

On top of that, Hegarty is working on a stage production for the Lowry Theater, at the Salford Quays arts center in Greater Manchester, UK. Directed by Robert Wilson, the play, 'The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic,' is a theatrical biography of the world-renowned performance artist, who stars in the performance alongside Willlem Dafoe.

"They have an amazing arts program. It's an ambitious theater," Hegarty tells Spinner. "She's the premier performance artist in the world. Robert Wilson is an eminent director and artist. It's a biographical piece on her life. It's going to be very interesting. They asked me to write the songs for it and I'll be performing two songs as well." The production will debut during the Manchester International festival in July.

Otherwise, the British-born Hegarty says he's happy staying off the road for now. "I'm just working on drawing quietly at home," he admits. "It's not to say I wont tour, but right now I don't want to have to think about it."

The important thing, he says, is remaining inspired and avoiding getting bogged down in the fast-paced must-see/must-do media onslaught. "That can be a problem, the bombarding," he says. "It's difficult, trying to contain the impact that the media can have on you. It's so aggressive. On the other hand, we are social creatures and we want to know what each other is thinking."

Another recent collaboration, a short film with Dutch gender-bending artists Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, is named for and features Antony and the Johnsons's tender song 'Everglade.' Lamsweerde and Matadin created an evocative video featuring the model Kate Moss using hidden surveillance cameras during a shoot for Parisian fashion house Balmain. Watch the film below.