About

Brighton Festival: Quarantine - 12 Last Songs

12 Last Songs is about work and how we spend our time. There are no actors. It’s a live exhibition of people, an epic performance that casts the steady rhythms of life on a carnival scale.

Making a living.

Finding your passion.

Watching the clock.

Nice to meet you,

what do you do?

Over 12 hours, from midday to midnight, workers will perform paid shifts, creating a fleeting portrait of society. A builder might build a wall, a hairdresser might cut someone’s hair, a chef might prepare a meal...

Created with the people of Brighton, this durational production is the latest work by Manchester-based ensemble Quarantine – last in Brighton in 2018 with dance piece Wallflower – who are known for their imaginative explorations of daily life.

‘A reminder that all lives are extraordinary in their ordinariness.’ - Holly Williams, The Stage

12 Last Songs is co-commissioned by Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts; Cambridge Junction with the support of the Stobbs New Ideas Fund; and HOME. It was originally co-produced by Transform.

In Brighton, 12 Last Songs is co-presented by Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton Festival and caravan assembly 2022.