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.
Me & Mr C is about the ventriloquist dummy inside your head who sees all you see, knows all you know, hears all you hear and sometimes, if you are very unlucky, tells you what he thinks of it all. Gary Kitching is an improviser, actor and comedian and Me and Mr C is his funny and disturbing rendering of what it is like to have a voice in your head. Mr C sits inside your head and watches.
What was the inspiration for this performance? Gary Kitching: I always wanted to do a solo show and expected the best playwright in the world to be inspired by me as a performer and write me one, but they didn't. So I thought I better make my own.
I'd been doing loads of improvisation and comedy and word got to Northern Stage that I had a show and they asked if I would like to perform in their scratch night. I agreed even though I had no idea what I was going to do. I had a month to prepare and did nothing until the week before. Then I quickly realised I had no idea how to write a show. So I decided to improvise it. The basic idea I had was that there would be a man (me) and his dummy (Mr C) and he would be lonely and there would be stand up. I then had a few impro games to play and that was it, so the show developed on stage in front of an audience.
The show is about depression, I had some therapy and one of the things I had to do was name the negative voice in my head. It's name was Mr C**t. So that's what I have in my mind when I start the show. Mr C represents that negative voice in my head.
How did you go about the collaboration for the show?
After I had developed the show in front of an audience , after maybe 5 or 6 performances I was invited to do the show as part of Greyscale's Theatre Brothel at Northern Stage. Through that I met Selma Dimitrijevic and Lorne Campbell. I knew the show needed direction before it went to Edinburgh so I asked if they would be interested which thankfully they were, but unfortunately the funding I had applied for was turned down so we only had a very limited amount of time to work on it.
After Edinburgh in 2012 I decided I had gone as far as I could with it and forgot about it and decided to make another show, the problem was I still felt slightly frustrated with it as I felt it hadn't reached its full potential. Fast forward to the end of 2014 and Selma and I had worked on my other show Dead To Me.
She asked me what I wanted to do and I talked about Me and Mr C; within an hour Selma had put together a touring pack and it was back on. Selma had also recently seen a show directed by Alex Swift called Fat Man. I'd worked with Alex on a couple of R&D's and we got on really well, I felt with Selma as producer and Dramaturg and Alex as Director the show could become what I felt it had never achieved.
What made you decide to work with Ovalhouse? I knew it was a place that supported interesting and experimental work. I also wanted to bring it to London. I'm really grateful to everybody there as they have made me feel really appreciated and welcome. I feel we have a good show at a good venue. Happy days.
Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance? This process was unique to the type of show I wanted to create. I have no idea if I will create another improvised one man show, it's unlikely. The other show I created started with a conventional process of script writing and a couple of scratch performances. The next show might have a totally different approach. Who knows?
What do you hope that the audience will experience? I hope the audience will realise they are experiencing something
unique to them and that night. I hope they will laugh, a lot. I hope they will be moved. I hope they will think about the work afterwards. Or if none of that happens I hope they feel like that haven't wasted their money and that at least they've had a good night out.
Do you see your work within any particular tradition? I suppose the tradition of improvisational theatre is there in this show. As for others I'm not sure. I hope people find my work funny, dark, interesting challenging and entertaining. I'm not sure what tradition of theatre that is. I'll go for the tradition of "Good Theatre". I'd like to hope/think it occasionally falls into that tradition.
Are there any other questions that might help me to understand the meaning of dramaturgy for you in your work? I don't know. I'm not that good at analysing my work so I rely on much cleverer people to do that for me. Essentially Selma and Alex in this case. They both have an understanding of theatre that seems like magic to me.
Gary Kitching is an improviser, actor and comedian and Me and Mr. C is his funny and disturbing rendering of what it is like to have a voice in your head that explains to you with authority, purpose and well referenced arguments, that you are a worthless piece of shit. An experience some of you may be able to sympathise with.
Director: Alex Swift Lighting Design: Katharine Williams Writer/Performer: Gary Kitching Producer & Dramaturg: Selma Dimitrijevic
The clock ticks, the years pass, and 39 year old Ottilie Dundee finally goes home to unearth some long-buried truths. There she meets the largest obstacle of all, and true to form, this old friend never forgot. Wed 25 Nov – Sat 28 Nov, 7:30pm £12.00 (£7.00) RUNNING TIME: 50 MINUTES VENUE: DOWNSTAIRS, OVALHOUSE BOOK / BOX OFFICE: 020 7582 7680
What was the inspiration for this performance?
Credit: Alex Brennar
Laura Lindow: This is the first of my work that I have performed. I wanted to explore the impact of sharing my own actual words with actual people in a shared space. The impact on the room. On the tone and quality of the communication.
I was also interested in developing a landscape which felt quite personal (although Ottilie’s story is not my own). I call it a shonky
love song to family life. And that is what it feels like. A slightly misshapen tribute to the foundations upon which we build. The hurt that we build around. That we ALL build around. How did you go about the gathering a team for the show? I was lucky to work with a fantastic team of makers, both in the development and in the realization of this stage of the work. All felt very organic. And such a joyful opportunity to grow in understanding of different practitioners’ styles and interests. This process has had many champions.
What made you decide to work with Ovalhouse? I heard so many wonderful things about Ovalhouse. Their ethos of supporting work in its developmental stages very much chimed with where this project is at. Additionally they made me feel so completely welcome throughout the time I have been with them. It’s also worth saying that I also have huge admiration for some of the artists with whom they collaborate regularly.
I'm aware that this may answer the previous question, but contact with audiences, both in the rural settings where we toured, but also around Lambeth, felt like a key collaboration, absorbing reactions, questions, concerns. It meant that we could make informed decisions in response. That Ovalhouse views this as an important element of progressing work that is engaged and engaging felt like a shared value.
I'm aware that this may answer the previous question, but contact with audiences, both in the rural settings where we toured, but also around Lambeth, felt like a key collaboration, absorbing reactions, questions, concerns. It meant that we could make informed decisions in response. That Ovalhouse views this as an important
element of progressing work that is engaged and engaging felt like a shared value.
Was your process typical of the way you make a performance? I'm not sure that I have identified a typical process in my work. What is always present is a feeling of exploration. And play. I always start with play at the very heart, whether this is through words or action. This piece was commissioned as an attempt to create work which could play in both studio theatres and in less formal rural venues. I think this is reflected in the voice of the piece. It’s not just ‘can we move the set with 2 people’, it’s the heart and soul of what you hear and see. The temperature of our room if you will.
What do you hope the audience will experience? Landscapes. Emotional and physical landscapes. I equip everyone with a travel sweet as a welcome present and/or to bribe them to come with me. I want them to travel in their mind’s eye.
Do you see your work within any particular tradition? I suppose the piece falls within the storytelling tradition. Although I'm looking for a word/phrase which communicates something that sounds a little less… chair-based. Think Horlicks with a Malt whiskey trim. Story-jazzle? Leave it with me!
Are there any other questions that might help me to understand the meaning of dramaturgy to you in your work?
Erm… I wonder about my sense of your definition of ‘dramaturgy’. I wonder if I'm going to answer this question adequately. In fact.. do you know… I wonder that a lot when it comes to discussing work! Is that common do you think? The fear of revealing one’s idiocy? I can tell you where I have stumbled! I can tell you where the analysis of the term autobiographical has led me to steer away from narrative directions as though they were wrapped in electric fencing! I can tell you about the beautiful truths that have revealed themselves through arming the piece with fiction. And how physical interventions have unleashed words from the page with ambition and roar. But the meaning of dramaturgy… let me think on. The clock ticks, the years pass, and 39 year old Ottilie Dundee finally goes home to unearth some long-buried truths. There she meets the largest obstacle of all, and true to form this old friend never forgot. Join writer/performer Laura Lindow as she
takes us on a fantastical journey into the bizarre world of Ottilie Dundee, part-time disappointment, unintentional heroine. This is a world where the smallest sound becomes a symphony. Where what you thought was trash becomes true-life treasure. Watch as this buttoned up heroine gets ready to cut loose…. and then LEAP!
Including originally composed sound and music, this is a shadowy tale with a contemporary sting.
