Photo credit: Maximilian Glas
The Whole Routine
Edward Thomasson
Sat 18 April | T4
12:00 - 12:50pm
Duration: 50 mins
Access Key: BSL, S
"Let’s pretend we’re in control, let the rhythm takes its toll"
The Whole Routine is a musical performance about control and longing by Edward Thomasson. Created in collaboration with songwriter Robbie Ellen and composer Charlotte Harding, and performers Adrian Quinton, Callum Murphy, Clara Andersson, Penelope Granycome, Simon Tipping and Yasmine Holness-Dove, It’s about the distance between the impulse to sing and the act of singing, between the desire to dance and the fear of total humiliation.
Developed over three years through weekend workshops and public presentations, this ambitious work uses song and dance sequences to explore how patterns of behaviour develop to manage difficult social feelings. As harmonies falter, gestures fall flat, and routines slip out of time, The ensemble brings a range of experiences to the work: some have formal training; others sing in community choirs or perform in more informal settings. Each performer finds their own distinct way through the song and dance sequences. They follow each other if they get lost but it’s not a mistake to get lost.
The Whole Routine premiered in 2025 at London Performance Studios and toured to the Kunstverein in Hamburg.
Credit:
Cast: Adrian Quinton
, Callum Murphy,
Clara Andersson,
Edward Thomasson
, Penelope Granycome,
Simon Tipping,
Yasmine Holness-Dove
Book, Lyrics & Choreography: Edward Thomasson
Music: Robbie Ellen & Charlotte Harding
Dramaturgy: Bendix Fesefeldt
Production: Carolina Ongaro
Somatic Facilitator: Andrew Kerton
Special thanks to Josh Andraos, Federico Hewson, Anna Holmes, Jos McKain, Shade Théret, Stanley Weissohn, Alistair Hall, Tracy Garcia, Tal Amitai, Manuela Zaugg, NUVOL3NUVOL3, Michele Porcelluzzi, Jerlyn Heinzen, and Lizeth Pachacama, who contributed to the development of The Whole Routine through workshops and public presentations.
Commissioned by London Performance Studios.
Content Notes:
This performance will include haze, loud singing and 2 loud beeping sounds 25 minutes in.
Photo credit: Maximilian Glas
Edward Thomasson (born Stoke-on-Trent, 1985) makes performances, plays, videos and paintings. His performance work uses song, dance and enactment to describe the ways people try and fail to encounter each other. He writes poems and lyrics that are brought to life through collaborations with composers, performers, musicians and friends. He works with a regular ensemble including Adrian Quinton, Callum Murphy, Clara Andersson, Penelope Granycome, Simon Tipping and Yasmine Holness-Dove. For many in the group, performing is not their primary profession, yet they share a commitment to making performance a vital part of their lives. Their first full-length work together, The Whole Routine, premiered in 2025 at London Performance Studios and toured to the Kunstverein in Hamburg. The work will be presented at various venues across the UK and Europe in 2026.
Thomasson has presented performances at KW Institute of Contemporary Art and Bonner Kunstverein, Germany (2024); Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zurich (2019); Studio Voltaire, London (2019); West Space, Melbourne (2018); and DRAF Studio, London (2016), among others. Solo exhibitions include The Present Tense, Chisenhale Gallery, London (2014), and Inside, South London Gallery (2011). Selected group exhibitions include United by AIDS, Migros Museum, Zurich (2019). Thomasson has collaborated with Lucy Beech on performances since 2007, exhibiting together at Tate Britain (2017), Maureen Paley (2016) and Barbican Theatre (2011). He lives and works in London.