Ruxy Cantir @ Flux

Although she doesn't have the same immediate, grotesque

Ruxy in the past

physicality of Red Bastard, Ruxy Cantir's Pickled Republic is clearly within the same bouffon tradition as Eric Davis' monstrous creation. 

Pondering her possible decline into the horror of old age as a stereotypical East European Woman, Cantir leaps and eats and talks and argues with herself, using a chance encounter on a bus to meditate on her own love of pickled food and the fashion choices that will someday condemn her. Her character is witty, engaging and playful: even when she contorts her body to represent her aged nemesis, she is charming and only slightly terrifying.

Ruxy in the future

The bouffon - the dark clown - has a reputation for aggression. Cantir turns this rage on herself, poking at her doubts, her fear of aging. Between the laughs and the pickles strewn across the stage, she addresses a common fear of slowing becoming the very thing she hates. While she draws on her roots in Moldavia, her thoughts are familiar. The bouffon brings the hidden to light, the usually unspoken prejudices, the unacceptable. 

More Cantir, please.

#Trans @ Pitch

Despite being presented as a 'scratch' performance (that is, an early stage work-in-progress) as part of Conflux's Pitch evening, Emma Jayne Park's #Trans is remarkably polished, with a coherent format matching the content and a cheeky humour seasoning the serious issue of gender identity. Supported by a smart introduction by Eilidh MacAskill, which offered Judith Butler's meditation on gender as a thing performed rather than an essential nature, Park's choreography questioned how movements and facial expressions establish the gender of an individual. 

Her head shaved, her clothing loose, Park flickered between male and female posturing. The male more aggressive, clutching the penis, grinning at the audience; the female flirtatious, initially intruding onto the male display with rapid, flirtatious glances. Building from these simple stereotypes, Park's choreography then evolves, transforming her into an androgynous entity, balancing the genders into a fluid movement vocabulary that at once recalls extremes of male and female behaviour and moulds them into a singular presentation of desire.

And desire is clearly on the mind of her character - swinging an

arm like a distended cock, or play humping the air, or flirting with the front-row, her creation is sensual and sexually predatory: even the props (a selection of mannequins) are not safe from their attention. While certain gestures evoke one gender or another - she presents her covered breasts at one point - her performance insists on how even those postures strongly associated with the male or the female are simply learnt manners.

On the Vile Arts Radio Show Tonight: Ruxy Cantir

The Vile Arts is back on Subcity Radio and, thank God, he has guests. Drew Taylor is a familiar voice, so we'll get to him later. But check this out...

or listen here...

Actually, by my standards, this is a pretty great show... sure, I manage to mess up the music cues and do my usual boast about how I know Red Bastard. But both Drew and Ruxy are great guests, and cover for my rudeness, bad research and general silliness. 

Ruxy Cantir is a theatre artist born and

raised in Moldova (Eastern Europe). This provided her with a grotesque sense of humour, boney elbows, and a desire to celebrate the odd and the unusual. 

She creates original physical theatre in ensemble and by herself, and believes in the full physical gesture as the epitome of human expression. She is inspired by transformation, highly physical comedy, and embarrassing stories. She strives to create imaginative intensity-filled original work that explores the bizarre manifestations of our fears and desires. Most of her work falls somewhere between styles like Clown, Vaudeville, Physical Comedy, and Movement theatre.
Ruxy received her B.A. in Theatre Arts at Furman University (South Carolina, USA) and her M.F.A. in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre (California) where she came into her own as an “actor-creator,” a mover, and a community arts project lover. She also trained at LAMDA in their Summer Intensive and Physical Theatre Workshops, and David Diamond's Theatre for LivingWorkshop.

Ruxy moved to Glasgow, Scotland in November 2015.

Because this...

Surging Dramaturgy: Car Men @ Surge 2015

Surge 2015
Friday 31st July, 13.00 & 17.00, Candleriggs Square

Saturday 1st August, 13.00 & 16.00, Candleriggs Square

Sunday 2nd August, 13.00 & 16.00, Candleriggs Square 

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.


Car Men from Conflux on Vimeo.

About Dramaturgy

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.