Spacey brings art to life in Brillo idea for Old Vic stage

Kevin Spacey today told how he would unite the worlds of art and theatre for an Old Vic production in which famous sculptures will come to life.

Acclaimed 20th century works - from Brillo Box by Andy Warhol to Rabbit by Jeff Koons - will take to the stage in Drama Queens, mounted on wheels and moved around by remote control.

They will be given voices and personalities by artistic director Spacey and other "top drawer" actors.

Created and directed by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, the slapstick comedy will have its premiere at a gala show on 12 October.

The £250-a-head VIP tickets will raise funds for new collaborative projects at the Old Vic.

Spacey said: "It's been of interest to find a way to merge the art and theatre worlds for some time. Some people may visit art galleries and never go to the theatre or the other way around.

"This collaboration brings the two worlds together and shows how much the two artistic fields have in common. You already find performances at art galleries, this takes it one step further. It's an incredibly funny work. The sculptures discuss who they are and what they're doing on stage.

"There will be some 'top drawer' names. It's yet to be determined who I will voice.

"As an actor I think of Hal in 2001 (A Space Odyssey). He was not human, but took on qualities in a way that formed a personality."

The other sculptures in the play include Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man, Elegy III by Barbara Hepworth, Four Cubes by Sol Lewitt and Untitled (Granite) by Ulrich Ruckriem.

The Old Vic's auditorium has been transformed into an in-the-round space for Drama Queens and there will be an exhibition of Elmgreen and Dragset's own work to coincide with the gala performance.

Elmgreen and Dragset said: "As artists it is reassuring to work in a theatre context, where it is still actually possible to make people switch off their cell phones, sit still in the darkness and watch a gang of mechanical sculptures moving around on stage and engaging in intellectual slapstick comedy.

"In a culture of sensational information overload, it proves the world has not lost its appetite for some absurdity."