CHORALE: A SAM SHEPARD ROADSHOW

Sam Shepard is hardcore. He was in that film Voyager, about needed to be a bit more careful about his sexual partners. He wrote Paris, Texas and recently did his first ever post-show session at The Citizens, where somebody asked him whether there were any DVD box-sets that he would recommend.

Ah, Glasgow audiences are the most sophisticated in the world. 

Now, there is a roadshow doing the rounds dedicated to him. It's like his work can't be contained by the usual theatrical presentations. It's a mixture of performance, film and workshops, with live music, and it all started when Ben Kritikos (out of Herons!) and Jack Talton (the one who played Mozart on the BBC) were pulled together with Simon Usher (artistic director of Coventry Belgrade) to create a new work based on Shepard's prose and poetry. Making the Sound of Loneliness was then commissioned by Latitude Festival in 2012 (I think that was the year my tent was swept away in the night), and has inspired Actors Touring Company to hit the road with a sack full of Shepard shenanigans.

There is so much going on that I got a little confused by the press release. I think all the genres are being The Animal (You)... no, they are 'staging two further pieces by Sam Shepard, the visceral early play The Holy Ghostly and the poetic monologue The War in Heaven and a screening of the rarely seen film version of Savage/Love, directed by Academy Award winning director Shirley Clarke.'

slapped into a single piece, called

'The workshop will focus on another little seen film by Clarke, Tongues. As The War In Heaven was co-written with actor Joseph Chaikin who was left with Aphasia, there will be additional workshops and outreach activity in partnership with Connect, a charity for people living with Aphasia, to create awareness of this language disorder.'

The Holy Ghostly is vintage Shepard: out in the desert, a father and son duke it out. It does sum up why some people might find it a bit much: he isn't just a male writer, he is always banging on about masculinity - and it tends to be the rough'n'tough variety. That said, artists have no moral responsibility to be balanced, and his virtuosic word-play (and the inherent theatricality of his scripts) get him off the hook.

There is one other great thing about this roadshow. Back to the press release: Ben Kritikos creates a badland soundscape for all the shows and will also play post-show gigs while on tour with Presence Theatre.

That'll be my cross-platform button ticked. Score...

PRESENCE THEATRE LTD. & ACTORS TOURING COMPANY IN ASSOCIATION WITH BELGRADE THEATRE COVENTRY PRESENT CHORALE A SAM SHEPARD ROADSHOW ! UK SPRING TOUR 10TH MAY–4TH JULY 2014

CHORALE Directed by Simon Usher Design by Carmen Mueck Lighting & Projection Arnim Friess Sound Design Paul Bull Music by  Cast John Chancer, Valerie Gogan and Jack Tarlton

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry 10th–17th May (show times vary) 024 7655 3055 www.belgrade.co.uk

Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking 23rd and 24th May, 7.30pm 01483 545999
www.atgtickets.com/venues/rhoda- mcgaw-theatre

Òran Mór, Glasgow 28th May, 7.30pm 0141 357 6200 www.oran-mor.co.uk

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 30th and 31st May, 7.30pm 0131 228 1404 www.traverse.co.uk

The Poly, Falmouth 5th June, 7.30pm 01362 3194 www.thepoly.org

The Acorn, Penzance 6th June, 7.30pm 01736 363545 www.theacornpenzance.com

Eden Court Theatre, Inverness 12th and 13th June, 8pm 01463 234 234 www.eden-court.co.uk

CLF Art Café at the Bussey Building, London 16th–29th June (show times vary) 020 7732 5275 www.clfartcafe.org

Dugdale Art Centre, Enfield 3rd and 4th July 2014, 8pm 0208 807 6680 www.dugdale.co.uk