I worked it out that I see Laurie Anderson every two years – what a lucky guy am I. “The End of the Moon” is the second of a trilogy of works by Anderson that began with “Happiness”, which I saw at the Barbican back in 2003. The latest performance piece features many different ideas about science and beauty and art and looking up. The stage is sparse with an old leather chair which is used to tell a couple of stories, a projector and Anderson’s musical rig which is her pulpit for the majority of the show. Around the stage there was about a hundred candles flickering and dancing, creating a very calm effect. Almost a sea of stars on the stage. The narrative thread is provided by Anderson’s employment as NASA’s “Artist in Residence” and she goes on to talk about why the guys at the Hubble Space telescope make the pictures of far-off stars psychedelic rather than try and get a realistic model of the stars (“well we think the people would like them that colour) to how new intelligent space suits that have been developed aren’t being sent into space, but being sent out to be used in desert warfare.
The mood of this piece is much darker than “Happiness” and I was left feeling a little bit down. But that’s not to say it is a miserable piece, there’s much to laugh at and Anderson’s use of language is both hypnotic and, in places, unnecessarily verbose. However, the quality of the stories shine through from tales of duetting with an owl in Italy to walks in the woods with her dog Lollabelle and the canine’s subsequent discovery that danger can come from the air. Yup, looking up is the theme of the piece. Looking at the moon, looking at turkey vultures swooping down on Lollabelle, looking at the Twin Towers falling…looking up. Danger can come from anywhere.
Interspersed between these monologues there’s Anderson musical pieces played out on the violin. Very often these are solo, sometimes accompanied by a backing track. This time around she used a harmonizer and delay effect on a couple of the performances to create a twin violin duet with herself. The music was very strong and it certainly broke up the stories and kept you interested in what was going on.
The performance itself is about 90 minutes long and it is a totally solo performance with Anderson operating the backing music, cameras and some of the lighting herself. That’s without all the dialogue. It’s a very involving show and if you get the chance to catch it, please do. It’ll send you out of the theatre thinking and looking up.

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