slide
DIRECTOR
VIDEO DESIGNER
“Now that I’ve seen it I’m still not quite sure what to call it, but it was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.
Ultimately, “Slide” works because these various forces come together in a cohesive mix of styles to tell a moving story that is equal parts narrative and non-linear. It is one of the few pieces I’ve seen recently that I would not only see again but bring friends.”
Slide is a concert-length music/theater work featuring librettist/actor/singer Rinde Eckert, and composer/guitarist Steve Mackey. The original production of the work, directed by Mark DeChiazza, was performed with new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird, and they released the music from Slide as a CD titled Lonely Motel, which won the group a 2012 Grammy Award.
In 2017, DeChiazza re-interpreted the production to be performed by Eckert, Mackey, and conducted ensemble Orchestra 2001 of Philadelphia (conductor Jayce Ogren). This reboot of Slide was presented in Philadelphia, at Princeton University, and at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY.
Eckert (Pullitzer Prize nominee and 2012 winner of the Doris Duke award) plays Renard, an enigmatic psychologist who struggles to describe an experiment examining reactions to in- and out-of-focus slides. The results reveal that our decisions are based on habits or conventions that make it difficult for us to see clearly. Mackey and eighth blackbird also take onstage roles, resulting in an unmediated exploration and expression of sound, text, movement, and image.
Rinde Eckert performs in Slide
