Keaton Henson: Six Lethargies with Britten Sinfonia

The world premiere of Henson’s new multi sensory piece performed by Britten Sinfonia, exploring themes of mental illness, trauma and empathy.

Six Lethargies is the culmination of over three years of work from the musician, artist and composer. Composed around, and from within, issues of mental illness and human emotion, the piece aims to express and explain the feelings of anxiety and depression through six connected movements for string orchestra. During the performance a portion of the audience will have their reactions monitored via bio-metrics, allowing their emotional state to control aspects of the production in real time.

As a performer known for his inability to perform live due to anxiety, Six Lethargies is Keaton's way of handing his story over to the orchestra. Not performing himself, he is allowing them to be his voice, as well as providing human connection and empathetic insight, all the while asking the audience ‘if I write how it feels to me, will it make you feel the same?’