'Nothing Is More Horrific': Elizabeth Shares 'Suite Of Singles' Influences

Cremaster Cycle by Matthew Barney

I have been obsessed with the imagery from the Cremaster Cycle ever since I first learned about it years and years ago. I love the idea of beautiful and strange films interlocking together to say something with a bigger meaning, even if it is ambiguous. I wanted the pieces of the suite to lock in together to say something about the cycle of rebecoming after a heartbreak, but I loved the idea of them sitting apart and maybe saying nothing at all. The surreal landscapes and characters of the Cremaster are truly something dreams are made of!

Geyser by Mitski

When Nick McKinlay and I were standing on the beach with his assistant Guy in the freezing wind filming Happier Now, Nick reminded me of the intense crawling that Mitski does in the video for Geyser. I love how unhinged it is, the deep emotional fall apart, digging into the sand. I tried to bring high drama to the beach like Mitski, to really embody the feelings of the song. No one can do raw emotion like Mitski though.

The Second Woman by Nat Randall

I was absolutely obsessed with the concept of this amazing endurance play when I saw a portion of it a few years ago. The woman replays the same scene again and again with 100 different men that she has never met before. When we were talking about making Sweet Connection I really thought about the meaning I took from this play, for me, kind of a “wherever you go, there you are” ethos to dating. Finding the good and terrible parts of yourself despite who is in the room with you. 

Annihilation - Directed by Alex Garland

Nick and I both had this scene from the film Annihilation in mind for the final sequence of the suite, where I am confronted with a me that is not-me. The beauty of the movements and the strange ritualistic feeling of this scene is something we really tried to draw on. Nothing is more horrific than being confronted with yourself!

Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber

One of the first things I told Nick when we started to plan for the suite was that I wanted to use a lot of interesting slow zooms. I love how disorienting they can be, how they draw your focus into somewhere you maybe weren’t expecting to see. My key reference for this is the '70s film of Jesus Christ Superstar which to me is the pinnacle of zooming. Again, highest drama and what an incredible performance from Carl Anderson.

'A Night with Elizabeth' takes place at Thornbury Theatre on Saturday, October 29 for ALWAYS LIVE (w/Elizabeth, June Jones, Soju Gang, Pillow Pro and more) - details here.