What makes Birds of Paradise distinctive from other Scottish companies?
BoP are one of the very few Scottish theatre companies that employ actors with disabilities, as well as non-disabled actors, for every show they produce. That, combined with their commitment to commissioning new writing and touring all across Scotland, makes them unique.
Where did the inspiration for Clutter Loves Company come from?
Morven came to me with the brief to write a play ‘inspired by place’, which started me thinking about the spaces we inhabit every day, how this shapes who we are, how we interact with the objects that clutter our lives, and where do we go to try and escape from all this stuff.
Then, before a word of the play was written, we got into a room with some actors and explored these ideas. We built dens and showed each other mementos and shared anecdotes about growing up and family life. I soon become fascinated by the relationship between care-givers and care-receivers, the tension between our responsibilities to other people and our desire for autonomy. So this became the raw material of the play.
How will this performance build on the company's inclusive approach?
One of the things we were keen to do with the play was to embed ‘audio description’ into the fabric of the text, so that you could get the whole story just by listening to the words. But also to make it
visually interesting, with a playful physical style, and to integrate surtitles into the design. This should make the show accessible to all kinds of audience members, as well as being an exciting piece of storytelling.
What does "agent of change" mean to you?
I guess, for me, an ‘agent for change’ is a beacon of progressive practice within its field. So BoP is a company that leads the way in terms of inclusive theatre and should act as a role model and
cheerleader for other companies who want to expand their commitment to disability equality and inclusion (which should be everyone!).
What do you hope to give the audience from Clutter?
First and foremost, we want our audiences to have a great night out at the theatre. It should be a lot of fun. So hopefully we’ll get the audience chuckling and empathising and wondering what on earth could possibly happen next. Beyond that, I would love to think the audience will come out the other end thinking deeper about some key questions brought up by the play and get them arguing in the bar afterwards.
