For a few days only this week you can enter the grounds of the derelict St Andrews Church in Rodney Street. You can’t actually go near the graves as that area is unsafe but in the safe area there is a 9 minute sound piece by Paul Rooney based on the story of William McKenzie. There is just one speaker on a platform, someone is talking to McKenzie, using different kinds of language, English but from 17th century to more contemporary. The narrative is interspersed with music by local band Mugstar.
McKenzie, a gambler, is said to have made a pact with the devil to ensure a winning hand in a poker game. Worried that the devil would claim him if he was buried underground, he left instructions that he was not to be buried, but instead encased in a pyramid, sat upright at a card table, with a winning hand of cards. This tomb still stands in a derelict graveyard on Rodney Street.
Commissioned by Sound and Music
St. Andrew’s Church, Rodney Street,
Wed 19 – Sat 22 May 2010, open daily 4pm – 7pm
Free admission
Part of Memories are Made of This: Sound and Music at Liverpool Sound City
www.soundandmusic.org
