Ian Smith/Bowie

Michief La Bas head honcho and five-star solo artist Ian Smith introduces a familiar face

FEATURE BY IAN SMITH.

as told to Gareth K Vile

PUBLISHED 02 FEBRUARY 2011


David Bowie may seem a cheesy and obvious choice, but it has to be my choice because I have been following his every move and batting of eyelash for about forty years. You’ll hear this story from everyone, from Boy George, everyone who was completely transformed by the Starman appearance on Top of the Pops in 1972. It did change the world for lots of outsider freakos living in grim suburbs of London, who suddenly realised you could be anything you wanted, even something from another planet.


That has informed my thinking ever since; he is an artist of the twentieth and twenty-first century, and has probably introduced more concepts, styles and subversive thinking to the popular consciousness than anyone else. I was thirteen when I got into him, and he was the first person who was mine. I’d had a huge education in popular culture from my brother who was seven years older than me, so I had been (vicariously) a mod, a greaser, this and that on my brother’s coat-tails. But this was for me and has been ever since.


There are tracks on The Man Who Sold the World that mention Winston Churchill, Kalil Gibran, about seven kinds of religion, gangsterism, et cetera et cetera, and you were then inspired to explore all these things. Jung. I mean, who the hell was Jung? And that was in a top ten pop record.

I went with my brother to the last tour in both Wembley and Glasgow, and it was one of the finest moments of my life to share with my brother who had always led me. And when he did numbers like Waterloo Sunset – for me, as a London boy, it was about as close to bliss as I could get.

Everybody knows what he has done on his erratic and interesting journey: it is like having a freakish big brother, and I'm not disappointed in the least that he seems to be settling down now. He has done enough, surely! He inspired me to realise that you could be your own person, dress it up a bit and that was enough. Theatre, art and music, my three favourite things, all in one package that looks brilliant. What more do you want?

Robocritic reviews The Maids @ The Citizens

Preserve the public trust.

Genet used theatre as a weapon. Stuck in the margins of society - Stewart Laing comments that he has read an interview with the French author in which he complained that his acceptance by the literary establishment gave him serious writer's block - Genet embraced the idea of criminality as a virtue. Hence The Maids is full of anarchist content. The mistress, perhaps an avatar of God, is depicted as uncaring and thoughtless. The maids themselves are perverts, enjoying a series of role-plays and indulging sexual violence.

The public trust in the Citizens as a venue for entertainment could be seriously damaged by this production. The arrival of Laing on stage halfway through the production for a question and answer session, the musical interludes including a rendition of BDSM classic Venus in Furs, the unstinting representation of erotic bullying: these contribute to a disturbing atmosphere. The decision to follow Genet's instruction to have the female characters played by men, yet Laing's refusal to make them camp up the roles, offers a rare example of genuinely confusing gender identity.

Fortunately, Laing's skill as a director keeps Genet's balance between theatrical convention and mayhem. Laing highlights the ritualistic aspects of the script, and reminds the audience that this is not some kind of documentary but a surreal performance. Consequently, those values most prized by the audience - performances, set and scenery, visual spectacle and clear narrative - are held in place.

Protect the innocent

With the exception of David Bowie's Jean Genie, all material connected to Genet must be kept away from the innocent. In The Maids, the only innocent character (the unseen lover of the mistress) is arrested because the maids decide to grass him up to the cops. An exercise in corrupted desire, possibly influenced by the historical context of the 1940s (a France occupied by Nazis might encourage a writer to believe that his antagonism towards power is justified), The Maids is set in a universe where life itself is guilt.

Uphold the Law

The law in The Maids is the ultimate power. The threat of the executioner - and the bliss found in his arms - and the drama of punishment lies behind all of the servants' antics. Even the mistress is subservient to the law. It hovers in the background, provides the grounding for the various flights of fantasy. Not only is the law upheld, it defines the corruption of the characters.

Laing plays hard and fast with the laws of theatre. The curtain gets to do a funky dance, one scene is played out as a rehearsal, the director turns up (with a beard that really works) and chats to the audience. There is a video of Genet moaning at the BBC for making him a familiar face. The suspension of disbelief is shattered. It is as if the tyranny of the law within the play is mocked by Laing's freedom in staging.

(Classified)