Theatre and Culture from Scotland, starring The List's Theatre Editor, his performance persona and occasional guest stars. Experimental writings, cod-academic critiques and all his opinions, stolen or original.
What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object? I began with the difference between thinking something and writing something down. Once written the thought can be let go. The deed is done. The stance has been made. A bit like writing something down in a diary. You write a diary to get rid of something, not because you want to read it again. There is also a analogy with writing the names of the dead. To witness and to acknowledge the thought of their lives.
Why bring your work to Surge?Because there can not be enough poetry written in sand throughout
the world. It is a good thing to focus on silence and thoughts amidst a crowded street and a loud life.
What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production? Contemplation and a connection with the process of creating something and then letting it go. Next to that the autarky of the robot writing introvertly the text before revealing it to the public.
ABOUT DRAMATURGY How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work? Skryf writes with sand poetry in public space. For the poetry that is a dangerous thing to do. Public space is hazardous for small piles of precisely stacked sand. So in concept there is the highest goal of laying out a complete poem or text. In reality that is almost not reachable. The public is aware of that and feels for the text.
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition? Throughout the world there are many traditions involving sand and drawing something temporary with it. Skryf does it in its own fashion, as a new time robot, with texts that are most of the time site-specific.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process? The process starts with a combination of concept and technological possibility and offcourse, my own interest and longing for creating something new. After that comes a long and hard tie in my workshop making, testing, remaking, retesting etc. I see that as a collaboration between me and the technology and the concept. No one of the three is really in charge. In the end if all three are equally present I am happy.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work? I need the audience. They are there to "read" the work, understand the concept and also destroy the written texts. Without an audience there would be half a performance left. Although it would be really powerfull to lay out a text in a very remote place no one would know of.
Are there any questions that you feel I have missed out that would help me to understand how dramaturgy works for you?Best to see the machine in action. I myself will not be at Surge Festivall, Benno, the other Skryf operator will be there. Thanks for your interest!
Showing up on pedestrian streets to promote their mobile garage, these bumbling mobile mechanics conceal their incompetence by turning to their hobby - opera! Led by a desperate amateur, this unlikely trio live up to their name, performing Carmen in all its greasy glory.
With: Christopher Nairne, Douglas Nairne & Alistair Digges Music arrangement by Stephen Deazley
What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object?
Alan Richardson: The inspiration behind the production was quite simply coming across 3 trained opera singers, who were not ‘precious' about opera and interested in performing outside. Also bringing opera to the streets, in a much more digestible way for the public at large, who would never entertain the thought of going to an opera house.
Why bring your work to Surge?
As director of Conflux, bringing work to Surge is part of my job. However in terms of the overall remit of Conflux it is important for us to engage with a wide variety of of art forms and see how they can work in the context of the development of street arts, physical theatre and circus. In therms of street arts, live music is often restricted to either brass ensembles or drumming groups, so to experiment with opera is a welcome divergence.
What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production?
The production is designed to be comic and enjoyable. The musical arrangement (Stephen Deazley) and the opera singing itself is of an extremely high standard, so whilst the production does ridicule some of the traditions, performance style and indeed content of opera, it does not do this at the expense of music. All of the tunes are taken directly from Bizet’s Carmen and arranged for three unaccompanied male singers - the lyrics however are somewhat more flippant.
How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of
dramaturgy within your work?
The dramaturgy of the work - though this is somewhat a grandiose term for this kind of work - was in fact what shaped the performance as a whole. The structure of the performance was decided and clarified before any of the lyrics were written, or music was arranged.
The arc of the performance was decided between director, composer and the three performers. Once defined the lyrics were written based on this, then arrangements were then composed and finally this completed score was rehearsed and directed. In outdoor arts, particular in static circle shows, often the dramaturgy is the only definitive structure, as scripts, such as they are for street work, and what happens in specific scenes will change each performance due to audience interaction .
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition?
Clowning mostly - based on the teachings of Philippe Gaulier. But also traditions of opera, though mostly taken to enhance the humour rather than being faithful to them.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process?
See Question 1. Collaborative approach is essential for street work of this kind, as the performers need to be extremely comfortable with the material, so that the unexpected that happens on the street can be used to enhance the performance rather than it getting in the way.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?
The audience needs to engage in the work in an active way - this is true of most small scale street work - work that is made for a passive audience, is often inappropriate for street work as it doesn’t take into account where you are, which would negate the reason for being outside in a street in the first place. In the case of Car Men, the direct audience interaction is reasonable small, with a could of audience members taking part in the action for a few minutes - but an active and lively crowd will increase the quality of the experience for the audience as a whole.
About Surge Festival What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object? Jonathan Beedell : DADA dadadadadadadadada.. ! *&^%$£ !! ?
We wanted to do something that connected with WW1 commemorations but definitely not a show about soldiers or the trenches or letters home or war poets etc as we thought those subjects would reach saturation point very quickly. So we wanted to find another take on things, perhaps something about the sheer absurdity and waste of those four terrible years.
The Dada movement historically certainly seemed to express some of that. It could certainly be argued that Dada is the most positive thing to emerge from the ashes of the conflict.. so we started with that. We read a lot, looked at odd bits of film and images and thought about the dada legacy – how to reflect its contemporary realities, we researched Duchamp and the others - and also looked at the life of Fred Karno – inventor of the custard pie ( allegedly ) – who was a practical joker and entrepreneur who took Chaplin and Stan Laurel to the USA.. The WW1 troops were often referred to as Karno’s Army.. for obvious reasons…
So we began with many ideas and lots of conversations… Then we dived into the studio and went a bit crazy. Months of pent up energy and boredom with the hum drum realities of running a company exploded in improvised lunacy. Lots of concrete poetry, bla di bla, repetitive nonsense, anger, words, stupid movements, dada delving in dirty dancing - and then a few props came to hand, including a big canvas that was knocking around. That became our main prop and backdrop and a symbol of ‘art’…
Art must tear life apart ! Action is the enemy of thought !
So we began with all three at once. A script of sorts emerged and is always changing. A lot of the text is chosen moment by moment. Objects arrive and move on. Ideas never stop.
Why bring your work to Surge? We want lots of people to see the show. We want more bookings.
We want to enjoy Glasgow. And we want to get a sneak preview of the Ian Smith festival. Of course. We are all Vagabond Kings !
And ‘cos you asked us.
What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production? I hope they are shocked, provoked and amused. And entertained. I hope they laugh. A lot.
They will see two quite old blokes giving out a lot of focused energy and sublime madness, comic timing, idiocy sprinkled copiously with spittingly ranting polemical sloganeering and propaganda of the vilest kind.
And a nice abstract painting, great costumes, and fine facial hair. They might feel angry and confused by some of it, or even upset. But they’ll be happy. Eventually.
About Dramaturgy How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work? I think we have an instinctive feel for what works, and that’s about it. We very rarely work with dramaturgs as such, but always have outside eyes feeding in to the process of creating the work - friends, neighbours, stray performers and dogs – the odd professional or two… and they can be very odd some of these people…
Perhaps conventional dramaturgy is not that relevant to the kind of work we do – we deal with emotional, visceral narrative and with audiences who are not trapped by seating or four walls, so the motivations for dramaturgical input are so very different and there don’t seem to be many ‘dramaturgs’ that connect with or understand the street arts context that I know of…. Maybe there’s a gap in the market there…
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition? Dada certainly. The English absurdist tradition. Various eccentric artists – Vivian Stanshall, Max Wall, Ivor Cutler, Ian Smith among others. I think we were pioneers of a new tradition of street theatre, so I feel we are closely allied with all those of us who work primarily outdoors, circus included, though personally I hate red noses…but the street theatre tradition influence on me came from early work by many people, Interaction, Action Space, Welfare State, IOU, Albert Hunt, Roland Miller, Jeff Nuttall, Adrian Henri et al and right back to Joan Littlewood and community theatre – and then from later experiences in Europe with all sorts of others – with processions, street bands, improvisations, dance, fools and clowns and songs - but all about outdoors and taking work to non-theatre audiences.
I’m inspired by people as diverse as John Berger, Keith Jarrett, Groucho, Marx and Charlie Drake… Audiences and ordinary people outdoors in the street ( public realm to you ) have been the best critics, inspirers and influencers throughout. If it doesn’t work for them and they start to drift away, then you’re not doing it right. Simple really.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process? It begins when we start.
We develop it through play.
We never collaborate. We just bang heads together.
( Collaboration should not be confused with consensus. Collaboration is a recognition of each other’s strengths and foibles and finding a way to accommodate all points of view or offers without too much dilution of integrity or passion.. )
We do a lot of mulling and a lot of reflecting to begin with. I read voraciously and regurgitate words in random ditties, didacatics and desperations. Then we distil, argue, give in, give up, or occasionally hold dear to the things we love.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work? They can believe whatever they want to believe, but that doesn’t make it true. They take away some emotional truths I hope - and reflect on what they’ve seen. The meaning has to lurk in their shopping bags and emerge when they get home. We often involve them in the work, but not much in this show. Their reactions to ‘stage actions’ will often determine our timing or length or focus of sections of the performance, and that will affect the meaning. Or not.
Are there any questions that you feel I have missed out that would help me to understand how dramaturgy works for you ? A definition of dramaturgy ?
Two men recklessly attempt to confront the absurdity of war in just 35 minutes, using their bodies, their voices, and the surrealist toolbox of Dadaism. Playful, physical and blackly comedic, this new show examines how the barbaric chaos of World War One manifested itself in the nihilistic, nonsensical art that grew from it. Splattering big ideas on a small canvas, the Desperate Men explore art’s reaction to the wholesale destruction of lives, the old order and old hypocrisies, and find echoes in equally absurd modern conflicts.
Surge What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a
script or an object? Richard: It all begins with a conversation around what show do we want to do next? We reflect on what we have recently produced and usually there's a reaction against doing that type or scale of show again.We have been involved in some very big projects in the landscape involving hundreds of people.These are very challenging so having the chance to make something simple involving just two people,a few props and a suitcase is a dream.We are still performers at heart who enjoy fooling around.The strategic stuff we do is just away of earning a living.
Having said all that we were very inspired by a painting that had been hanging around for years in our studio.We like using found nearby objects as they seemed .We started playing with it and the resulting script was the last thing to emerge.Weaved within all this was a great deal of research around dada and a character called Fred Karno -a late 19th Century/early 20th century pioneer of crazy theatrical shows and street theatre.
He invented the custard pie fight, discovered Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin and basically invented all the routines for the early silent movies in Hollywood.Yet he was born in Exeter, made a fortune,ended up running an off licence in Lilliput near Bournemouth and died penniless.
Why bring your work to Surge?I would say because we were asked but we have a connection with Glasgow that goes back many years.We performed and won a trophy at Street Biz in 1989,performed at various Hogmanay nights and at The Merchant City Festival.
We were last in town with a commission called The Pig Pen Riots a few years ago.
What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production? They will see deceptively smartly dressed mature performers absolutely owing the moment in time.They will laugh,be confused,be bemused,profoundly moved,transformed but yet transfixed.
About Dramaturgy
How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work? Despite what audiences might think when they see the show I am ultra concerned that there is a satisfactory piece of theatre going on in front of their eyes.It is not just knockabout street entertainment.I want people to see it as a piece of theatre and try and decipher what's going on.
We worked on S&S with a devising director (Angus Barr),a choreographer ( Helen Parlor) and our own Musical Director (Shirley Pegna). In constructing all narrative segments this threesome operated as a dramturg panel.We back fill the logic and story of the sequences.There is always a reason why something happens,nothing is random.However we don't spell it out and make it easy for any audience .However what is crucial is that it remains accessible,hypnotic and delivers...
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition? As a young drama/politics student in the 1970's companies such as Incubus, Footsbarn, Forkbeard Fantasy,Impact Theatre Co-op,Triple Action,IOU,Bread& Puppet,Lumiere and Son and Kaboodle really got me inspired.I was particularly influenced by the performances and writings of Paddy Fletcher.I have also been guided and appreciated the ensemble approach of my fellow core directors of Desperate Men- Jon Bedell,Shirley Pegna and Richie Smith.Their musical backgrounds really flavour the work.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process? DM is 35 years old in September.What we produce is heavily influenced by our back catalogue of work and our creative history but also the contemporary political scene.We collaborate with old and new artists all the time.
We still have an appetite to strut our stuff and talk to people about issues.It's invariably about an exchange with audiences but our tools of engagement are often a bit surreal and silly. Jon and I have worked together for nearly 20 years.This show is very much a result of this intense working relationship.It has two main characters in the piece but the chemistry and tensions that we
face daily as Jon and Richard are in the mix.The process is passionate but we always have collaborators who work as referees and framers.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work? On this piece the audience are the jury that we are playing too.We must convince them of our case.We must hold them,nail them to the pavement and persuade them that we have a just case and that our actions are valid and are meaningful.
