Zosia Jo tells her side of dramaturgy...

Zosia Jo says:
I started making Herstory because I wanted to find a way to bring my performance poetry and my choreography together. A lot of the poems were about relationships, good, bad and ugly. A tricky theme in which to steer clear of cliché, but it’s something that everyone can relate to. Keen to avoid self-indulgence, I appealed online for other women’s accounts of their relationships. 

What came back was touching, terrifying, and galvanizing. Suddenly, I had a piece that is not just personal, but political- a social commentary on domestic violence, our reluctance to talk about it, its hidden nature, and the fact that it has existed and happened for far too long. 

To this end I am also trying to support charities that support survivors of domestic abuse. I will have a collection bucket and information leaflets at every show in support of Health In Mind, who support survivors and families affected.

Venue: ZOO, Venue 124, 140 Pleasance, EH8 9RR
Tickets: 7-8 August £5 / 9-22 August £9 (£7)
Dates: 7-22 Aug 2015
Time: 14:25

The Fringe

What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object?
I began with a collection of my poetry and a call for stories from other women. The narrative and theme emerged because of the personal stories that were sent to me

Why bring your work to Edinburgh?
Because my work doesn’t fit neatly into the ‘dance’ box or the ‘theatre’ or ‘spoken word’ boxes… its all three… The fringe is a happy home for all things mixed and experimental.


What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production?
I have been told that this show is very moving, that you go for an emotional roller coaster ride through the relationship with me, from flirtation through love and on to betrayal and break down… but that it is also very hopeful and uplifting - “a powerful testament to survival and renewal”. 

A male friend also shared that he was very moved- so its not just for women! 

The audience will see my vulnerability and risk… they will feel anger on behalf of some of my contributors, they will laugh and maybe shed a tear.

The score- by Tom Sinnett - is bluesy and jazzy and gives the whole thing a funky vibe (or at least that is how it feels to me!) People have said they loved the music, its certainly great to move to.



The Dramaturgy Questions
How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work?
This is the most narrative driven work I’ve ever made. For me the challenge was in combining several stories, which each had diverse voices, totally different outcomes, and different emotions attached. I wanted to make it one story so that it is relatable, you can look at the character in front of you and believe it is all my story. 

So the dramaturgy of bringing these voices together into one character, that’s what makes it interesting.

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?
I have been inspired by many poets and spoken word artists, especially my friends Miriam Nash, Elizabeth Amato and Agnes Meadows, all three strong women writing powerful words and performing unapologetically and disregarding taboo. 

I also find Jonzi D’s methods of combining two hip hop traditions of spoken word and dance very engaging. In my early days of writing I came across Scrobius Pip and his collaboration with Dan Le Sac had me dancing around my bedroom. 

It showed me how rhythm, movement and words could be more powerful than the sum of their parts. There is something so visceral about spoken word when it is performed from the gut- and music and movement both connect me to that place.

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?
This is the first time I ever worked on a solo so the process was totally new for me. The first thing I did was create the script, weaving the stories together around my poems. Then I looked for the gaps in emotion… where did I need to go deeper and could movement say what the words left out… so I created movement from the emotions or feelings. 

At that point I had the music made also based on the feelings… ultimately I scrapped most of the initial movement because I much prefer responding to music- so it became more collaborative with Tom at that point.

What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?
I simply hate rehearsing this work. Its like having a conversation with yourself in the mirror and its really painful. Its a tough story- I need someone there to engage with the telling of it.

Are there any questions that you feel I have missed out that would help me to understand how dramaturgy works for you?
Dramaturgy is unique to the production- in dance it is often absent and leads to confusing narrative, or total abstraction- which is fine, but I think audiences like things to make sense- even if they only make sense in a bizarre alternate reality that belongs solely to that work.

Chlorine @ Zoo

I have concerns about theatre's relationship to 'mental health.' In fact, I don't even like talking about 'mental health': the phrase suggests that it is dealing with the wide range of possible consciousnesses, when it really means 'mental illness' (but it is trying to avoid the stigma).

I have a deep conviction that what has been called mental illness is not a strict category of consciousness, but a series of common symptoms that are bundled together when an individual becomes dysfunctional and called a diagnosis. That is not to say people do not suffer - depression is more or less the standard setting in modern life - or that anyone ought to throw their pills in the bin. However, from my position, all discussion about mental health is fundamentally flawed.

And theatre has been responsible: 'mad' characters have always been either comic (thank you, Shakespeare and the Fool) or deadly (the character who takes pills for their moods will end up killing someone). The representation of madness in performance has encouraged the idea that the mentally ill are other.

Recently, there has been a change: mental illness has become an issue, giving plenty of plays that take it very seriously. Better than this are verbatim works that try to give voice to the subject's 'victims,' and Chlorine goes one better: it is the experiences of the writer.

Nest question: what will this do for representations of 'madness?'

Zoo @ Fringe

Five for Laurin: Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance

Today, Laurin arrives to join the team on The Skinny. I am delighted to have her back in Edinburgh: she is a rare example of a dancer who can write well about  many performance arts.

Before we get into an argument, I'll need to clarify. In my capacity as an editor, I am suspicious of the dancer who writes reviews. There are many exceptions to my distrust, and I am not saying dancers can't write. Indeed, Laurin proves that they can. But, when it comes to reviews, I have always wanted the voice of the critic to be distinctive from the one of the performer. Let's just say it's about protecting my patch, and save it for another time.

Maybe one when I am not trying to see fine shows a day. If there are any critics or editors out there, I finally realised that the way to prevent Fringe burn-out is to ensure that I stick to one venue per day. It concentrates the mind, allows breaks between shows and saves on the rushing about a city that is full of artists trying to get people  to see their show...

Any venues reading this might want to encourage audiences and critics to stay in one place by offering a free drink or snack to anyone who has tickets to three shows in their venue on one day. They might even buy more coffee, or more food, or stay for four. Just saying...

Anyhow, I need to give Laurin her recommendations. I am going to scatter them across the Fringe, but that's because my tips for her are really a framing device for another idiosyncratic top five. This is really a top five for potential audiences who are hip, young and might like to see some dance, enjoy scripted theatre and have a taste that can include the mainstream and the lighter, or skill-based end of the underground.

I had those Up and Over It boy and girl on my radio show this week... I started off on the wrong foot when I asked whether their show was a parody of Irish dancing, and made a joke about Michael Flatley. They didn't mind the joke, but Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding are not just taking the piss. They are reclaiming Irish dance  from Lord of the Dance.

We know the score with that juggernaut success. Man with no top and a headband gives it laldy and the girls are stuck in the back doing the soft-shoe shuffle. Harding is vociferous in wanting to reconstruct the gender roles back to what it used to be, when women got a chance to hit the hard shoe action. There is humour in their choreography, yet they aren't about to mock the very form tha sustains them. Cleary used to be in the chorus for Flatley and they know without him, they would not have a foundation for their bold reworking of a traditional style.
Assembly, 3 -26 August

Stellar Quines don't need the Fringe: they've been winning awards and plaudits year round. Their emphasis on the female - these days, I can't get it right when I say "feminist," as the younger generation eschew the title (A Young Man's Guide to Sainthood, for example, might deconstruct the idea of masculinity, but the director denies that this is feminist), and the older generation have a clearly defined understanding of it that lacks any stability - has made them stand up and stand out in the Scottish scene. The List might share a name with a popular Scottish arts magazine, but it earned a rave review from Michael Cox from Across the Arts.

Despite his love for Eric Clapton, Cox is a critic who can recognise a good script and strong direction. Starring Maureen Beattie - another heavily lauded performer - it revisits Stellar Quines' recent interest in French Canadian theatre (their Ana also needed a translation into English). However, it has a universality in the story, of an isolated mother and housewife.

Director Muriel Romanes also has an eye for a good script, and her signature is a sparky vitality that emphasises the seriousness of the themes without getting stuck in rhetorical grand-standing. The List might be the break out hit that the critics are hunting. I am not sure, because I am behind with my reading.

Summerhall, 4 -25 August

A bigger risk, as I have no press release and no reviews to check (they got four stars from Broadway Baby, but that's on the flyer) is Into the Fog. They caught me coming out of Dance Base, and I rather like their approach to selling the show. They were standing very still, hands stretched out, and covered in quills. That's a good start, and there are a few keywords in their advertising that intrigue me: "physical theatre," "inspired by Russian animated film," "illuminate," "demanding movement."

They look like a young company, and are in one of the smaller venues... I have a belief that is always worth taking risks on these shows because giving the next generation a chance, even if they don't make out, is part of the Fringe spirit.

Sadly, that doesn't explain why I am not taking the risks in my own programme, as yet.

Venue 13 (Lochend Close), 4 -18 August

After these rather serious choices, you'll be ready for some fun. How about Mr B's Chap-Hop Hoorah? I caught the master of the riddling rhyme atLatitude a few years' back (he actually gave me a lift to the festival, and got us lost in Suffolk), and was surprised that his humour was backed up by the skills to get a tent rocking like mother.

His schtick is clear from the first couplet: he is applying formal English to the twists of rapping, and has acts the Original Gentleman. There are plenty of laughs in his cover versions - he knows his old school beats - and can drop a mean ukulele solo in the breaks.

Voodoo Rooms, 14- 26 August

While we are on the hip hop tip, I was impressed by my chat with Robbie from Bad Taste Cru. If The Council of the Ordinary is anything like the choreographer, it is hard-working, thoughtful and socially engaged, willing to remain hip-hop but ready to go beyond it.

A few years back, Robbie was part of the winning team at Castle Rocks, the annual Big Battle that happens during the Fringe in a nightclub I would not go anywhere near except for the promise of headspins and back flips: he's done his time with 2faced Dance and Liv Lorent, so I trust that The Cru are ready for prime time.

Besides this, he told me that when Flawless didn't turn up last year when I challenged them to a dance off, they failed by not turning up. So, I currently own Flawless, until they challenge me back in 2013.

Zoo Southside, 14-27 August