Mayfesto: A New Theatre Festival for Glasgow 2011

In 2010, Andy Arnold’s decision to programme the inaugural Mayfesto as a festival of political theatre now seems prescient: the last year has seen major changes in the political landscape, including a wave of unexpected student activism, the collapse of the Liberal Democrats as a meaningful alternative to the sterile dualism of Labour and Conservative in England, and a round of arts cuts that successfully combined ideological intention with the cant of necessity’s demands. 

While the range of last year’s selections took a broad view of politics – Rhymes with Purple took on the torture of suspected terrorists, while Gappad looked at the social alienation that can cause a mother to kill her child – 2011’s programme steps back from the explicitly political. With contributions from Ireland, Wales and Scotland, the theme is more Celtic Nations than British Revolution.

Politics hasn’t slipped entirely off the agenda – a programme packed with Irish work would not be complete with a piece or two about the troubles, including Scottish legends Communicado doing a rehearsed reading of Ten Men Dead, focussing on the Republican hunger strike. The return of Wildcat and 7:18 veterans Dave Anderson and Sandy Nelson for “a night of political comedy, music and Mayhem” as A Bunch of Five’s It’s A Dead Liberty revives the songs, sketches and spirit of Scotland’s most famous political agitators. Apart from giving credence to the frequent comparisons between 2011 and the early 1980s – as if the riots in London weren’t enough – A Bunch of Fives links up cabaret with politics, a far too rare alliance since the burlesque revival.

Andy Arnold, both as a curator and director, has always had an enthusiasm for Irish theatre: he made his name through his versions of Beckett at The Arches. Unsurprisingly, this Mayfesto is loaded with Irish companies. The wonderful Fishamble, who brought Forgotten to Dance Base at the Fringe in 2008, bring back their kabuki inspired contemplation on old age. This gentle, yet biting, one man show demonstrates how physical theatre can bring life to the monologue. Pat Kinevane’s transitions from pensioner to pensioner are astonishing and moving, and a reminder never to discount the geriatric. Blue Raincoat made their name as Flann O’Brien’s premier stage adaptors with The Third Policeman: they return with At-Swim-Two-Birds for more surreal word play and supremely imaginative theatricality.

Mayfesto maintains a high level of social engagement at a time when some theatres are considering backing off the serious stuff, and letting the audience away with a laugh and wistful moral. Given that the cuts hitting the nation are currently threatening at least one space and the Physical Theatre course run by Al Seed, it is difficult not to take sides. If Mayfesto refuses to play the obvious card, and throw out all manner of dialectical pomposity, it at least encourages the idea that theatre is a place where social issues can get an airing.

Mayfesto, A New Theatre Festival for Glasgow takes place from Wed 4-Sat 28 May, Tron Theatre

http://www.tron.co.uk/mayfesto/

Into The New: Plunge into the Future

"Into The New is our graduating students' festival," explains Kate Stannard, teacher on the RSAMD's Contempory Performance Practice course. "It kicks off in The Arches on 16 March, and on the 19th we have an event, Performance Recall, which celebrates the 60th birthday of the RSAMD and the tenth birthday of Into the New."

Stannard elaborates, "There are twelve solo performances, and we inhabit all these different spaces in The Arches. It's an explosion of different kinds of work!"

"Into The New is the high point of the year for us. Performance Recall is our contribution to the RSAMD's anniversary celebrations," continues her colleague Robert Walton. "We've asked sixty artists to come back and recall a performance that is important to them. Some of them are doing performances that they made, others are recreating their audition piece, or a minature version of a longer show. It's going to be a real mixed bag."

The CPP's graduates and students have become a fixture in the Scottish performance community: from Nic Green's Trilogy, through Junction 25's redefining of youth theatre, and even into Random Accomplice's saucy comedy, the course has provided a generation of makers, and influences directors and choreographers beyond the RSAMD.

Into The New is rarely less than fascinating: as Walton mentions, there is no house style, and students are encouraged to find their own voice. Edd Crawley, one of this year's graduating class, insists that the CPP gave him the tools to say things that he could not express in any other way.

One of last year's outstanding graduates was Stephanie Black. Returning this year, she is presenting "a new project called Measure. It is part of the Athena Project, an award given to students from the RSAMD."

In many ways, Black's work sums up the strength of the CPP: her Body of Sand was a mind-blowing gust of desert energy. Examining her experience growing up in Dubai as a western woman, it used her dance background to devastating effect.

"My background is very much dance based: I trained in ballet from the age of four! The movement vocabulary is the first way to express our raw emotion: somehow I cam express myself better through movement than language."

"Measure goes in a different direction," she warns. "Last year, I started to understand how I create work. For instance, I prefer to start from images or colours, or a set task."

"Whenever I make a piece of work, it has got to be relevant to the place I am at," she continues. "After graduating I needed to take a new approach. I looked at ideas I had left behind, took a workshop with Julie Tontino and Ron Athey: we got to focus on small, integral movements. I am getting into a yoga practice: I am fascinated by binding the physical and mental approach."

Black's continued development as an artist reflects the best of the CPP: radical and challenging, it respects the traditions of the performance artists who blazed a trail, yet includes the personal experience and talents of the artists. For anyone gingerly considering whether performance art is for them, Into The New is a broad introduction.

2011: Mayfesto: It's a Dead Liberty and Everything Between Us

If we want to rescue politics from the political classes, go to the theatre
EVENT REVIEW BY GARETH K VILE.
PUBLISHED IN THE SKINNY 21 MAY 2011
Andy Arnold's second Mayfesto promised to be less political than its debut last year: fortunately, neither the artists formerly known as Wildcat nor Dave Ireland were listening. Ireland's Everything Between Us hits the Truth and Reconciliation process of Northern Ireland with a spot of hardcore sibling revival, while It's A Dead Liberty revives the agit-prop moggy for one last turn around the protest dance floor dance-floor.

Ireland's premise - that the Troubles are a bit like two sisters fighting - isn't original: his fast paced two-hander and vicious humour enlivens what threatens to be a predictable trawl through the anxieties of forgiveness. 

Well served by the cast, he refuses to caricature his protestant heroines, lending the respectable politician a pathos and his wild-child prodigal a sharp, sexy aggression. Tales of alcoholism, casual sex, religious doubt and revenge reflect the larger political processes without ever losing their personal bite, and Ireland's script is a masterclass in brutal humour and emotional honesty. Abuse and outrageous jokes are bandied about the stage, yet when the tale turns serious, the sisters are moving and sincere.

The balance between the political and the personal is perfect. There is enough idiosyncrasy in the characters to prevent a slide into lazy allegory, while their shared history clearly places them in the front-line of Ireland's specific history. For a play to present a violent bigot as sympathetic - and a victim as much as an aggressor is bracing, and further evidence of art's ability to bring a necessary nuance to political debate.

It's A Dead Liberty is far more old school: smooth, jazzy renditions of songs that wear their left politics on their sleeve, interspersed with contemporary sketches. It's a mixed bag: a couple of songs revisit hoary preoccupations of the 1990s and the clarity of the protest is oddly unsophisticated. The sketches. on the other hand, are resolutely modern - Alan Bissett deserves extra respect for a stunning performance of his own excellently observed deconstruction of the bastards at the Tax Payers Alliance - a conglomerate of business interests that pose as a group of concerned citizens - and the final gospel of alienation is a climactic finale. Meanwhile, a series of guest stars, from Barbara Rafferty to Alistair Gray, pop up and keep the pace fast and the laughter coming.

The only problem is not with the performance, or the lyrics, of the songs. It is frightening how relevant they still remain in many cases, and the band are tight and passionate. There is a feeling of nostalgia - cabaret has evolved in the past decade, and while the typical dominance of burlesque is thankfully avoided - there is much that Wildcat can learn from the new wave of cabaret. I fantasise about a collaboration between contemporary cabaret - The Creative Martyrs belting out Glasgow Smiles - and these worthy originals, or the removal of the glossy jazz sheen for a more brutal edge. John Knox Sex Club could do a number on the country and blues tinged songs, and Holy Mountain teamed with guest singer Karen Dunbar would put the shits up Westminster far more than a cultured saxophone solo.

If we do see the wave of political work promised in the wake of the collapse of connection between the state and its citizens, both Ireland and Wildcat are good places to start. Wildcat are a reminder of the past heritage, and Ireland melds aggression and sensitivity. And if Wildcat and co. aim to stick around, I challenge them to make the link with the modern scenes.

2011 Theatre Venue of the Month: Arches Live

Live Art young team gather with a programme of over 30 performances
FEATURE BY GARETH KURT VILE.
PUBLISHED IN THE SKINNY 29 AUGUST 2011


As inevitable as the annual migration of English actors from Edinburgh back to milder climes after the Fringe, so September's Venue of the Month is the Arches. Arches Live! is the big gathering of the young live art teams, new performance crews and wild outsider artists from the East and West coasts, and 2011 is the largest edition yet, with over thirty acts in a little under a fortnight.

Aside from the obvious highlight of The Skinny's own Mr Criticulous, fresh from fighting Ontroerend Goed in Edinburgh, in a one-to-one confessional, Arches Live! has spots from established names – Little Johnny is taking over the cafe, and Kieran Hurley presents a new work, Beats, that captures the current mood of political agitation in his trademark compassionate style. The eclectic range matches any Fringe venue, from Tony Mills throwing some hip-hop inspired shapes to Rosana Cade and Laurie Brown finding out what the tariff is for same-sex sins in Glasgow's confessional booths.

The joy of Arches Live! is that it sets veterans alongside newcomers: Nick Green is back on the block, after touring the world with her Trilogy, and Solar Bear's artist in residence, Ramesh Meyyappan, returns from swinging Snails'n'Ketchup on the Fringe with a look at the fishy treat from Arbroath. Meanwhile, the latest generation of graduates from the RSAMD make their first steps into post-student production.

The Arches has built up a reputation for challenging and imaginative performance, alongside its comprehensive clubbing and gigs programme. Its subterranean atmosphere, complete with passing train sounds, lends itself to the experimental theatre. When Andy Arnold was artistic director, before he began his revitalisation of the Tron, The Arches became the perfect home for his versions of Beckett, echoing the hollow terror of mundanity through its stone walls. Now, it has become a place where the usual rules of theatre can easily be ripped up.

That isn't to say that traditional theatrical craft is discarded. Stef Smith, award-winning writer of Roadkill, will be reading through her latest script and Tom Pritchard will be using his experience as an improvising dancer to rock his body in a free foyer performance. It's this mixture – like that of the National Review of Live Art – which makes Arches Live! so powerful. And with so many spaces, all levels of theatrical engagement, from the intimate to the grandiose, are included.

The importance of the Arches cannot be overstated. Edinburgh does not have anything similar, although Summerhall is hoping to follow in its alternative path: in the meantime, the Arches functions as a crucible for new work, a meeting place for radical performance communities, a bridge between student and professional theatre making and a champion of the challenging and provocative. With Arches Live!, it insists that the festival season is longer than just a single month.

Revealing the New (venue of the month)

A Venue without Walls

FEATURE BY GARETH K VILE.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE SKINNY 25 FEBRUARY 2011

When the National Theatre of Scotland was born five years ago, after a protracted conception and labour, it boasted that it was "theatre without walls." In much the same way, this venue of the month is a venue without walls, featuring the Reveal programme, part of the NTS' debate about its identity as Scotland's national theatre.

Reveal is clearly designed to introduce the NTS's audience to the new generation of theatre makers. Gary McNair, last seen bothering global capitalism with Crunch, Robert Softley getting political about the right to self-determination and Molly Taylor loving the transport system are all working for the first time with the company, while a rehearsed reading of Martin Travers' Roman Bridge and a platform performance of Ian Finlay MacLeod's Somersaults give insights into works in progress. 

With both the Traverse and, more surprisingly, the Citizens enlisted to stage the season – with additional help from The Play, A Pie and A Pint team at Òran Mór, Reveal aims to locate the NTS at the experimental edge of theatre and made good its inclusive manifesto.

Given the energy and experimentalism that characterises much new Scottish work, the NTS's audience may be introduced to unfamiliar styles. McNair, although a veteran of The Arches and The Òran Mór, straddles a variety of genres: "I've tried to avoid labelling myself – people have said it is a hybrid of stand up and monologues," he explains. "But I am just making what I am making." And while he avoids easy classification, McNair's skill is to unite radical ideas and an easy-going, audience friendly performance. 

Unsurprisingly, McNair is diving into new territory. "I tend to tackle subjects i don't understand," he laughs. "If I did make shows about things I do understand, I'd make one show, about REM, and then I'd have to get a job." And after heading to the apocalypse and financial meltdown, there was an obvious topic. "I realised as a 25 year old, it's not good to know nothing about politics. That why I went for this."

Across the NTS's programme, there has always been a diversity of subjects and styles. In the past, this has led to criticism from critics who believe that its remit ought to be to preserve the best of Scottish drama. While that is catered for elsewhere in this year's selection, Reveal consciously goes beyond the parochial, as in the teaming of Robert Softley with Pol Heyvaert, the Belgian creator of Aalst, one of the NTS's great successes.

Softley, like McNair, is excited by the opportunity to collaborate with the national company, especially as it allows him to maintain the distinctive identity of his work. "It’s inevitable every time I perform, being disabled, that the audience reads layers into the work that wouldn't be there with a non-disabled performer," he begins. "But I usually focus on other issues.  My previous work has always tended towards the overtly political – I guess at the core of what I want to do is engage with people and then challenge them to change their preconceptions of the world around them."

The seriousness of Softley's approach is also  reflected in McNair's content, yet they share a desire to be more than just agit-prop. "Girl X fits in with my political work," he continues. "Although I hope audiences are also entertained while they’re being challenged – there’re quite a few laughs here too!" And in this mixture, Reveal's intentions are precisely revealed.

2011 Theatre Venue of the Month: Ramshorn

Ramming home the importance of theatre

FEATURE BY GARETH K VILE.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE SKINNY 03 JANUARY 2011

At the end of December, Susan Triesman, the energetic and creative force behind Strathclyde Theatre Group (STG) retired from her post at the University. Since the company’s home, the Ramshorn Theatre, has only just recovered from the latest threat to its continued existence, the timing is unfortunate. Triesman has been a powerful advocate for the importance of the company and venue since the 1980s, and her leadership has seen the Ramshorn become a major feature in Glasgow’s theatrical landscape since its conversion in 1991.

In person, Triesman is passionate and knowledgeable about theatre, recognising its importance within the academic community and recalling the many successes of the STG during her tenure. Not only is STG open to non-students – a rare example of a university connecting directly with Glasgow’s wider communities – it has inspired many now-famous performers and runs a busy annual programme that includes new writing, established classics and unfamiliar works from contemporary playwrights.

There is no question that Triesman has been crucial to the Ramshorn – as she points out, it stages more shows across the year than any other theatre, from STG’s own programme through lunchtime concerts and visits from outside companies. She can recall the first years of the venue, long before The Merchant City regenerated, when the arrival of the Ramshorn as a dedicated venue was an outpost of culture in an impoverished adjunct to the city centre.

Now, of course, the proximity to Buchanan Galleries and the new, improved gallery spaces make the Ramshorn a prime property to the extent that the recent campaign to defend it all the more necessary. Ironically, the building that perhaps precipitated the cultural growth of the East End could have become a victim of the success. Since G12 at Gilmorehill has effectively closed its doors to the community, the Ramshorn has become an even more vital home for student theatre. 

Before her departure, however, Triesman has programmed a season for the Ramshorn, which includes the annual week dedicated to new plays, a swathe of comedians from the comedy festival and Triesman’s direction of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Although she directed the show over a decade ago, she has been waiting for the necessary permission this time ince before the film. She explains that Disney held the rights for years, and prevented anyone from staging it until long after the film had been made, shown and sold on DVD.

The eclecticism of 2011’s season is a reminder of The Ramshorn’s ongoing commitment to a diversity of scripted work: from John Byrne’s Cuttin’ a Rug (part of The Slab Boys Trilogy) through to a surprise visit from Black Market International as part of New Territories, The Ramshorn is a flexible space that can host traditional drama alongside more radical processes. Triesman points out that her version of Ibsen’s Ghosts, in the 1990s, was one of the first mixed-media events in Scotland: STG was the first company to present work by Sam Shepard and many other contemporary authors.

The departure of Susan Triesman represents the end of an era for the theatre, and following both the recent threat to the building, when the university debated whether it should continue in its present use, and the general threat to the arts posed by government cuts, vigilance is necessary to ensure that it remains, as the website says “a jewel in the crown of Strathclyde Theatre.”

Month of the Venues

FEATURE BY GARETH K VILE.

originally PUBLISHED in the skinny 06 JUNE 2011

 When the National Theatre of Scotland defined itself as a company “without walls”, they echoed the discovery of many cash-strapped dramatists: an established venue is not necessarily essential. Theatre can happen anywhere, from a warehouse (Dundee Rep’s latest production, Rhymes with Purples’ waterboarding special), through airports (The NTS' Home) to the side of the Clyde (Kate E Deeming – Glasgow’s morning dancer). At the same time, a National Theatre could only make this brave decision because Scottish venues were already diverse and plentiful.

However, it hasn't been a great year for venues. G12 Gilmorehill’s commercial management team was disbanded by Glasgow University, Te Pooka’s bold attempt to maintain the Red Door in Edinburgh’s pubic triangle failed, and The Ramshorn, after fighting successfully for its life last year, is being threatened with closure by Strathclyde University. 

Meanwhile, other spaces are developing new identities: Tramway is slowly strengthening the connection between its visual and performance art, and booking big name choreographers; The Citizens had bagged Dominic Hill as artistic director. And smaller companies are unearthing new places – Fort Tightlaced in Edinburgh, or the SWG3 in Glasgow – to respond to the economic climate. 

Vague attempts to challenge cuts in state funding – the odd Facebook campaign and the occasional ranting article – would be better co-ordinated towards a defence of existing venues. It might be possible to find new places, and it is always exciting to be driven out to an industrial estate to watch actors torture each other, but established venues provide both the stage and a forum for networking and discussion. Programmes like Mayfesto, the Traverse’s autumn offensive and Arches Live! are more than just a selection of plays. They are the epicentres of artistic communication.

The reopening of Cottiers, and the appearance of the Glue Factory in Glasgow are to be welcomed: Cottiers’ return suggests that theatres are viable economic concerns, but the history of public funding warns that venues are not safer in state hands. Leith Theatre, now hosting Dance Base’s expansion, was rescued by a local trust, that feared for its safety within Edinburgh Council’s care. This was in 2004, a time of supposed prosperity, in a city that has the largest Fringe festival in the world. Hacking at theatres and public spaces is going to be very tempting for local authorities when cuts start to bite.

Whether the state’s attack on the arts is philistinism, or a conscious effort to undermine a fruitful space for public discussion – the NTS’Dunsinane is a reminder of how theatre trumps politicians in the understanding of national identity – a strategy of resistance could concentrate on protecting existing spaces. Whether they book in major tours – the EFT, Theatre Royal, the two Kings and Macrobert – maintain a strong company themselves – Dundee Rep – or reach into the community – Citizens, Traverse, Tron – the theatres are symbols of a healthy performance community.

Unfortunately, the vision of local authorities can be confusing. In 2010, the English Higher Close Reading reprinted a report on Glasgow’s approach to city planning. It clearly identified the emphasis on tourism as a trap, and the best festivals have always had a firm support both from and by the local communities. As long as councils are intent on showing off to the world – Scotland with Style – the actual ongoing work of community development will be marginalised, effectively destroying the culture that allows the boasting. 

Back in the 1990s, the Merchant City was a shit-hole, and the Ramshorn was one of the first places to establish a beach-head for culture. This was then followed by visual artists, resisting the establishment of GOMA by having their own galleries in the cheap East End. Two decades later, Glasgow City Council wades in to gentrify the area, capitalising on the pioneers. If they do this at the cost of grassroots activity, and fail to support venues that are willing to take risks, there will be nothing left on which to build their next international bragging session.

The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble

Celebrate the female divine

FEATURE BY GARETH K VILE.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE SHIMMY 26 AUGUST 2011

"I dream a place where nothing exists, except dance. A place called Nrityagram."

Protima Gauri (October 12,1948 - August 18, 1998)

The dance programme of the international festival is dominated by works from the East: unfamiliar forms like shamanic Gut from Korea, or the precise excellence of the National Ballet of China not only represent how different dance can be around the world but that cliches about "primitive" performance have been destroyed by the cultural flow between nations. The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble are perhaps the most traditional entry in the EIF: their publicity emphasises the ritualistic and religious aspects of their choreography.

The NDE are more than a company. Under the guidance of their original guru, they have developed a philosophy that sets dance at the centre of spiritual practice. Based on the Gurukul tradition - the dancers live together as part of a co-operative community - the training goes beyond technique and into an entire way of life. And while ballerinas may find their lives are submerged into their discipline, Gurukul consciously engages every aspect of being.

The beautiful costumes and refined movement are placed at the service of the community and the gods. Rather than being the individual expression of a creator's vision, NDE gave praise to the Creator. Sriyah celebrates the goddess through a wide range of Indian styles, including Kathak, Odissi and Bharatnatyam.

There is a danger for western critics and audiences to exoticise foreign companies, to miss the subtle nuance of the dance's relationship to a culture, or simply ignore the sophistication of the choreography to enjoy a surface glamour. Yet the richness of Sriyah comes from its connection to the dancers' lifestyle and sincere religious convictions.