Coronation | CENTRE OUTSIDE THE CENTRE | BROWN UNIVERSITY

What are the ways in which we prepare ourselves to move through the world each day? In Coronation, Tony Miyambo puts forward a performative musing on the rituals of assimilation.
Situated to the side of the stage, Miyambo rests in a zinc bathtub full of oranges - an enduring refrain in Coronation. Slowly, he begins to wash himself with the fruit, rubbing, rolling, peeling, and squeezing. All the while, the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey sounds out through Miyambo’s small radio, with fragments of the event appearing on screen.
Playing out before us is an absurd and woeful coronation. It is the private, daily ritual of preparing oneself, rendering oneself palatable and perhaps even valuable for society.
Coronation is a performance that is equal parts compelling and discomfiting. Born from a fascination with the mass hysteria surrounding colonial events like the royal coronation, Miyambo’s work ultimately takes the form of the anti-coronation.
CONCEPTUALISERS | Tony Miyambo & Mwenya Kabwe
DIRECTOR | Mwenya Kabwe
PERFORMER | Tony Miyambo
VIDEO CREDIT | BBC TV Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II: Westminster Abbey, 1953
FOUNDER OF THE CENTRE | William Kentridge
CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR | Bronwyn Lace
MOMENTEUR-THE SO ACADEMY | Athena Mazarakis
HOLDER & ASSOC. PRODUCER | Dimakatso Motholo
DIRECTOR CINEMATOGRAPHY & EDITOR | Noah Cohen
EDITOR & COMPOSITOR | Octavia Sonyane
SOUND DESIGNER & ENGINEER | Zain Vally
ASSISTANT SOUND ENGINEER | Jack Garrett
WRITER & COMMUNICATIONS | David Mann
PROP & COSTUME DESIGNER | Nthabiseng Malaka
COSTUME DESIGNER ASSISTANT | Iris Courchaine
PRODUCTION MANAGER | Brendon Boyd
STAGE MANAGER | Meghan Williams
LIGHTING TECHNICIANS | Audrey Visscher,
Fred Young, Gabriel Goldman, Chris Griffin &
Alexander Foley
ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE | Bukhosibakhe Khoza
PRODUCED BY | THE OFFICE performing arts + film
Rachel Chanoff, Laurie Cearley, Bruna d’Avila, Elly Obeney
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Brown Arts Institute at Brown University
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