BPREVIEW: My Country; a work in progress @ REP 16-20.05.17

BPREVIEW: My Country; a work in progress @ REP 16-20.05.17

Words by Charlotte Heap / Production shots by Sarah Lee

There’s no way that the REP could have known that My Country; a work in progress would come to Birmingham in the middle of a snap general election campaign. Running from Tuesday 16th May to Saturday 20th May, in the REP’s Studio, this new play directed by Rufus Norris promises to hold a mirror up to post-Brexit Britain. The timing could not be better.

In the chaotic days after the referendum, when the country decided whether to ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’ in the European Union, Rufus Norris – director of the National Theatre, contacted writers and directors all over the country and asked them to start conducting ‘long interviews’ with the public, capturing the feelings of our citizens after the vote. The project had personal resonance for Norris but seems particularly important given his role at the National Theatre – a company that, as Norris recognises, needs to “embrace the creativity and opinion around the UK.” 

The fallout from the referendum is ongoing: embroiled as we are in an identity crisis which threatens to change the very fabric of our country; it is clear that our belief systems are dividing us. The Arts has always had a responsibility BPREVIEW: My Country; a work in progress @ REP 16-20.05.17 / Sarah Leeto reflect what is happening in society and this is what Norris set out to do. The interviews evolved into My Country; a work in progress, written in collaboration with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and based on more than 80 hours of transcripts containing the thoughts of the spectrum of society. Drawing from the emotional and, at times, extreme views of the community, My Country presents as a timely examination of where we are.

And where are we? According to Rufus Norris the overriding feeling garnered from the interviews was fury. Fury and a rejection of modern politics: worryingly, a selfishness and over confidence in our opinions also shone through the speeches that Norris listened to and transcribed himself before working with Duffy. My Country; a work in progress promises to reflect this reluctance to empathise: “With the death in belief of the great them – whether they are politicians, kings and queens or experts – what do we believe in? We believe in ourselves,” says Norris in an interview with The Guardian. “Cameras now are only used to take photos of ourselves – not of anything around us. We know we are in an age of extreme selfishness.”BPREVIEW: My Country; a work in progress @ REP 16-20.05.17 / Sarah Lee

The thoughts of the people interviewed will be interwoven with political sound bites, and Duffy’s involvement surely demands the dry humour and droll analysis that she, and perhaps the nation, is known for. It may be needed; Norris has “been incredibly diligent” carefully shaping a play which reflects the outcome of the vote. Individual actors will represent the six regions of the country, with the balance of Leave/Remain opinions represented on stage more in favour of those who voted to Leave. Not only because that was the end result, but because Norris and Duffy acknowledged that theatres can be seen “a liberal echo chamber” and they wanted to ensure “what will inevitably be perceived as our pro-remain bias is properly balanced.”

Perhaps realising that confronting the views of your political opposite may be an exhausting prospect, the play apparently uses Britannia herself to rally (or perhaps referee?) her people. It remains to be seen (no pun intended) whether there will be any light relief in such a seismic topic.

But in asking if there can ever be a United Kingdom, before a general election which is arguably leaving us feeling more at odds than ever, My Country; a work in progress certainly promises to challenge. Let’s hope it also entertains.

My Country; a work in progress – full trailer

Audience reaction to My Country; a work in progress

My Country; a work in progress runs at the Birmingham REP from Tuesday 16th to Saturday 20th May, as presented by The National Theatre.

Evening performances will be held daily at 7:45pm, with matinees at 2:45pm on Thursday 18th and Saturday 20th May. For direct event info – including full venue details, show times and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on My Country; a work in progress from the National Theatre, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/my-country

For more from The National Theatre, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

For more from the Birmingham REP, including a full event programme and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

BPREVIEW: La Strada @ REP – running from 8th to 13th May

BPREVIEW: La Strada @ REP – running from 8th to 13th May / By Robert Day

Words by Damien Russell / Production shots by Robert Day

These days I am lucky enough to enjoy a wider spectrum of culture. On the 8th of May, the Birmingham REP will be starting their run of La Strada – Live and I will be nestled in the audience, bravely evolving out of my more erstwhile natural habitat; the pub.

For those not already in the know, La Strada (or The Road, as it would be in English) is an Academy Award winning Italian film directed by neo-realism advocator Federico Fellini, first released in 1954. La Strada is drama, circus performance and autobiography, of a sort, rolled into one.

The story is quite a rich tale of Gelsomina – a young girl sold by her mother to a travelling strong man, Zampanò, who earns a living performing feats of strength on the streets of Italy. Gelsomina is taught to play the trumpet and snare drum, as well as clowning for the passing crowds, and joins Zampanò as part of his act.

BPREVIEW: La Strada @ REP – running from 8th to 13th MayA brutal and often cruel relationship develops, until Gelsomina falls in love with another street performer called Il Matto (The Fool). The trio ends up together in a travelling circus, with Il Matto goading the strongman to an eventual breaking point; as is to be expected this doesn’t end well, with disruption and violence finally raining down on all. Even more than that, but I won’t spoil the surprise if you haven’t already seen it.

In Edward Murray’s Ten Film Classics: A Re-Viewing, Fellini is quoted as having a soft spot for La Strada, saying, ‘I feel that it is my most representative film, the one that is the most autobiographical; for both personal and sentimental reasons, because it is the film that I had the greatest trouble in realizing and that gave me the most difficulty when it came time to find a producer’.

With a rich history of difficulties, including last minute changes of voice actors, filming delays due to injury, budget issues, and Fellini himself being struck with a severe bout of depression toward the end of the principal photography, it is of little surprise the Italian filmmaker held La Strada so close to his heart. It is also remarkable that La Strada was ever finished, with audiences around the world still enjoying the story today.

La Strada has been brought back to the stage this time by Sally Cookson, an Associate Artist at Bristol Old Vic Theatre, who premiered the production at The Belgrade Theatre Coventry in Feb 2017. Cookson is known for her alternative presentations of classic productions and challenging gender stereotypes; her 2016 National Theatre production of Peter Pan turned the ‘quite passive’ character of Wendy – ‘nothing more than a domestic goddess’ – into ‘as big a part of the adventure as the other characters.’

With La Strada – Live, Sally Cookson has told the story through Gelsomina – ‘we’re seeing the story through her eyes’ – whilst celebrating the physicality of the original narrative. BPREVIEW: La Strada @ REP – running from 8th to 13th May / By Robert Day

I always like working with performers who are multi-talented,’ tells Cookson, in a recent interview with 69 Magazine. ‘It’s so tough for actors these days – they have to be able to sing, dance, act brilliantly and play instruments and they’re doing all of that in this show – and be circus performers! Bart (Soroczynski – The Fool) is a wonderful circus performer and he shows off his skills in this show, but they all play instruments and sing. That provides a real delight for the audience.’

Anyone wishing to be a part of the latest chapter in La Strada’s eventful life can do so at the Birmingham REP, with the production running from the 8th to 13th May. All evening performances start at 7:30pm (except 8th May) with matinee performances at 2:00pm on 11th and 13th May.

The Belgrade Theatre Coventry’s Production of La Strada is presented by Kenny Wax Ltd, in association with Cambridge Arts Theatre & Bristol Old Vic. For direct event from the Birmingham REP, including venue details and online tickets sales, click here.

For more on La Strada – Live, including details of the full UK tour, visit www.lastradalive.com

For more from the Birmingham REP, including full event programme and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

BREVIEW: MK ULTRA @ REP 17.03.17

BREVIEW: MK ULTRA @ REP 17.03.17 / Brian Slater

Words by Charlotte Heap / Production pics by Brian Slater 

THIS IS FAKE THEATRE. The commencing proclamation of Rosie Kay Dance Company’s MK ULTRA raised a snigger from the REP audience, steeped as we are in “alternative facts”. Named after Rosie Kay’s favourite conspiracy theory, MK ULTRA explores the occult in pop culture: shining a searchlight on society’s obsession with symbolism, hyper-sexuality and the Illuminati.

The show doesn’t shy away from its droll departure, spiraling into a psychedelic trip through conspiracy history; kaleidoscopic projections, bursting onto a stark triangle set, suck you into a twisted tale of truth and fake news. In preparation for this production, Kay collaborated with BBC filmmaker Adam Curtis to explore the sinister story of mind control and the far-fetched, far reaches of online conspiracies. Cleverly, Curtis intercuts snippets of young Brummies discussing the Illuminati: particularly poignant for the audience and a startling reminder of the prevalence, and passivity, of believers.

BREVIEW: MK ULTRA @ REP 17.03.17 / Brian SlaterRosie Kay encountered this youthful fascination with free will during dance workshops and “fell down the rabbit hole” during the three years of research which led to MK ULTRA’s home town premiere. Conspiracy buffs will already know that MK ULTRA was the code name for a CIA brainwashing programme in the 1950s and 1960s, but the uninitiated may be less familiar with the theory that Disney and the CIA have continued the experiments – collaborating to control favourite pop stars, who occasionally break free and act out. Footage of a mentally fragile Britney Spears viewed through the famous Illuminati pyramid feels uncomfortably voyeuristic. But what is proof? Are we controlled by a shadowy elite? Kay’s combination of daring dance, slick visuals and pulsing beats pull us down the rabbit hole with her.

The choreography in MK ULTRA is rightly ambitious and complex; from fluid innocence to, at times, the grotesquely sexual, we are forced to confront the conspiracy head on. The dancers frequently physically entice the audience, exhorting us to question what we think we know. Am I in control of myself?

Sometimes struggling with the frenetic synchronisation, the seven dancers still stun throughout the production; they become a beautiful seething mass in gravity-defying displays which draw loud gasps. The solos, almost MTV moments, are intimate and BREVIEW: MK ULTRA @ REP 17.03.17 / Brian Slaterultimately unsettling insights into a visceral struggle for free will. The dancers are the perfect puppets in this – at times I can almost see the strings, whilst Rosie Kay, as puppet master, is masterful.

Symbols, both subtle and sledgehammer, are sewn into the fabric of the show; pop culture references abound, from Michael Jackson to Mickey Mouse. Costumier Gary Card (whose celebrity clients include possible CIA puppet Lady Gaga) festooned the dancers with the iconography of the occult. Their decorated limbs reminded this fashion victim of the garish prints of Versace – himself a victim of mobster murder conspiracy theories. Deconstructed and frantic trap beats, interspersed with comfortably familiar classic samples, further compliment MK ULTRA’s crisp choreography and hypnotic visuals – adding to the discordant intensity of the production.

MK ULTRA is the final, political episode in a triptych from Rosie Kay Dance Company; previous installments, 5 Soldiers and There is Hope (covering war and religion respectively), demonstrate Kay’s commitment to creating dance that covers unusual but important ground. MK ULTRA’s programme asks the audience to consider how they experience the show, where they feel it in their bodies – something this cynic scoffed at. BREVIEW: MK ULTRA @ REP 17.03.17 / Brian SlaterBut this prolonged peek into conspiracy culture is stimulating and, occasionally, disorientating. My heart raced, brain strained, fists clenched, palms prickled.

But whilst the interval provided a welcome pause to absorb, the surprisingly saccharine ending to MK ULTRA comes almost too soon; like waking from a fever dream, it leaves you questioning and confused, but exhilarated.

Just as the dance company’s founder and director intended, MK ULTRA challenges the conspiratorial belief that, as individuals, we are powerless: It’s like we can’t control anything,” explains Rosie Kay – in her previous interview with Helen Knott for Birmingham Review. “It’s all controlled by this shadowy elite and there’s nothing that we can do. And of course, now more than ever, it isn’t. We’re the people, we have the power, we can change how the world is.”

For more on MK Ultra, visit www.mkultra.dance

For more on Rosie Kay Dance Company, visit www.rosiekay.co.uk

For more from REP, including a full event programme and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

BREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP until 15.04.17

BREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP / Helen Maybanks

 

 

Words by Lucy Mounfield / Production pics by Helen Maybanks

‘One Love’ is a misnomer. The title alludes to Bob Marley’s song about getting together to fight those who seek to break and tear the world apart, more specifically about the tumultuous civil war in Jamaica during the 1970’s. ‘One love, one heart’ is Marley’s chant.

However One Love: The Bob Marley Musical did not portray Marley the man as impassioned peace keeper but a womanising, often unlikeable character. This was not a clear-cut tale of a social and musical revolution, but a series of events that happened seemingly because a variety of people around Marley pushed and cajoled him into making decisions.

A party celebrating Jamaica’s independence set the scene for the beginning of One Love and introduced us to the early formation of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Indeed the DJ called them this rather than simply The Wailers, as they were known then. A live band played at the back of the stage with the main cast – Bob, Bunny and Peter playing their parts on a podium made of wooden pallets.

BREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP / Helen MaybanksThe set nicely represented the troubled history of Jamaica, with the flag pinned above the stage with hologrammatic picture of the Queen projected on top of it. Massive speakers, piled high like Tetris formations, flanked the podium where Bob (Mitchell Brunings), Bunny (Newtion Matthews) and Peter (Jacade Simpson) stood early playing the song ‘Simmer Down’. These first scenes depict the musical development of the band and initiate the themes of civil unrest, poverty and Bob Marley the bully. Bob, Bunny and Peter are told by Rita Marley – Bob’s wife who is newly pregnant, that they need to change their look from rude boy to nice boys who sing love songs like ‘Guava Jelly’ instead of violence orientated ‘I Shot the Sherriff’.

Humour is used well here, but when the band beat up a radio presenter at Jamaica Broadcasting House and basically threaten him to play their songs, it suggests that violence was an ordinary part of Jamaican life. The fight sequences were sloppy and badly executed, which cut through the fact that the protagonists were so desperately poor they would wield baseball bats to make some quick money.

Bob Marley and The Wailers escape poverty to do a few concerts in Britain. Marley signs with Chris Blackwell (Alex Robertson) at Island Records and the band make their first album, Catch a Fire. Blakewell is seen dancing to their BREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP / Helen Maybanksalbum with Marley in the background, singing ‘Get Up Stand Up’ in the sound booth. This scene captures the raw danceability of Bob Marley’s songs and the passion with which they are sung. Later Bob Marley and The Wailers take these songs on tour to The Flamingo Club, Dudley. Here we see the controlling determination of Marley who pushes his friends away by touring England instead of going back to Jamaica.  They in turn leave, to the indifference of their friend.

Pablo (Eric Kofi Abrefa) from the band The Upsetters tells Bob Marley that he should forget love songs and realise that he has the power to change things for the better, ultimately telling him to join the Rastafari movement. This was a major change in Marley’s life and made apparent in One Love as key part of his identity – Bob Marley’s Rastafari clothes, chant and belief in Haile Selassie I running throughout. Complete with dreadlocks, Brunings looked the spitting image of Marley.

However the single scene to bridge the change is Pablo singing ‘Forever Loving Jah’. What caused this change of identity? I’m not sure I know; One Love: The Bob Marley Musical does arguably require some prior knowledge, especially about the political and civil unrest in Jamaica during the 60s and 70s. The production shows two leaders of Jamaica’s main political parties – the Prime Minister and the leader of the main opposition party – clearly conflicting, standing at each side of the stage with films and pictures of soldiers shooting people being projected on the walls behind them. The use of projection was effective in creating and building the context for Bob Marley’s music and quest for peaceful unification. However spanning a decade and a half the narrative lacked depth, such as Marley’s seemingly sudden interest in making peace whilst he was in England signing with Island records and touring for the most part of the first act.

BREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP / Helen MaybanksAfter ‘Forever Loving Jah’ the political tensions ramp up with Bob Marley gearing up for the Smile Jamaica concert. ‘Burnin’ and Lootin’’ and ‘War’ are aptly used to tell the story of the assassination attempt upon Bob Marley and his reaction to it; Marley feels betrayed by Jamaica, a country he has only ever sought peace for (at least he did with the free concert). These last songs were performed excellently by Brunings; his vocal work is impressive, his mannerisms, swaying, twisting and bobbing recreate Marley’s performances aptly. Although when not singing Brunings tended to be stiff and stilted which could make a scene look awkward.

The ensemble cast have lots of passion and energy, helping to lift the flatter pace of the second half. The later narrative centres around Bob Marley’s self imposed exile to England and the worst in his behaviour that this brings out – from his various affairs with women, fall out with his friend Pablo, and lying to his wife Rita. Bob Marley’s mood becomes self-destructive, until a series of scenes in the recording studio making the album Exodus change his mind about Jamaica.

One of these scenes features ‘No Woman No Cry’, sung by Rita Marley who has found out about her husband’s affairs; one of the highlights of the production, as she sings with an emotional poignancy that emphasises  her misplaced faith in her husband. Alexia Khadime shines as Bob Marley’s strong wife who fights to get him back from his lover Cindy (Cat Simmonds), but the scene is long with various characters coming and going whilst Bob Marley stands onstage. The pace became flat again and needed a change of levels or setting, a shift to add some much needed energy to the performances. I think Brunings would have been better suited to singing a full concert, instead of parts of songs interlaced with dialogue which tended see the character’s motivation get lost.BREVIEW: One Love: The Bob Marley Musical @ REP / Helen Maybanks

As for the soundtrack, the live band were excellent but the changes of songs could be awkward and the sound quality a little poor in places. Plus the actors ran over each other’s lines in the beginning (nerves?) and on a couple of occasions the timing of the music suffered from this.

The finale saw Bob Marley return from the Rastafari homeland in Ethiopia to perform at the One Love Concert in Jamaica – the titular event where Marley united the islands two warring politicians by thrusting their hands together in the air.

A fitting end to a Bob Marley tribute – the music says it all. And as the REP audience were on their feet singing, chanting and dancing, one that goes to show what a legend Bob Marley has become.

One Love: The Bob Marley Musical runs daily at Birmingham REP (except Sundays) until Saturday 15th April. For direct event info and online tickets sales, click here.

For more on Kwame Kwei-Armah, visit www.unitedagents.co.uk/kwame-kwei-armah

For more from Birmingham REP, including full event listing and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

INTERVIEW: Rosie Kay

INTERVIEW: Rosie Kay / Brian Slater

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Words by Helen Knott / Profile pic by Tim Cross, production shots by Brian J Slater 

When I catch up with Rosie Kay – artistic director and choreographer of Birmingham-based Rosie Kay Dance Company (RKDC) – it’s January and she is in the middle of running through her new show MK ULTRA.INTERVIEW: Rosie Kay / Tim Cross

Patiently explaining the rehearsal patterns of a professional dance company to me, “We’re working really intensely at the moment, then we will take most of February off and come back together for two more weeks in the studio before we go into the theatre. This works well, because I like having some breathing space to really consider what it is I’m making and if it works or not. I have the chance to work with my composer and film editor on the structure. It also helps prevent any injuries to the dancers.”

Rosie Kay started choreographing MK ULTRA before Christmas, but the research and development stages began almost three years ago. “I started exploring, ‘can I make a political work?’ I was pregnant at the time, so I couldn’t do all my usual out-there research – in the past I’ve joined an army infantry or visited India and China – but for MK ULTRA I was much more home-bound.” Spurred on by the young people she met during a series of dance workshops who were fascinated by the shadowy ‘Illuminati’, Kay found herself “going down a rabbit hole” of online conspiracy theories.

Kay’s new show is named after one of her favourite conspiracy theories; MK ULTRA is the code word for a CIA brainwashing programme carried out in the 1950s and 1960s. The conspiracy goes that this programme has never stopped and is now issued to control Disney child stars, including Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan. “They’re actually under this brainwashing, so they’re puppets who are controlled. Now and again their programming breaks down and that’s why they have these kind of flip outs.” Kay is gleeful. “It’s pretty mad isn’t it? I love it!”

INTERVIEW: Rosie Kay / Brian SlaterThe resulting pop culture-inspired show features seven dancers who perform in big group numbers, duets and each have their own solos. “We get to know them individually,” explains Rosie Kay. “It’s almost like they have their own music videos, though it’s not as linear and straight-forward as that.” The show’s costume designer Gary Card seems to be the perfect choice for establishing an authentic version of this world, because he’s living it. Card’s clients include Stella McCartney, Topshop and Lady Gaga.

Another MK ULTRA collaborator points to its unsettling underbelly. BBC filmmaker Adam Curtis is best known for his documentaries Bitter Lake and HyperNormalisation, and for his series The Power of Nightmares, which challenges the conspiracy theories behind the reporting of Islamist terrorism. “Adam is creating some documentary contextualisations that help explain the world that MK ULTRA comes from,” tells Kay, “particularly in the first half. I want the show to feel glossy and to be entertaining and fun, but underneath it’s actually really disturbing. You’ve realised that you’re subjected to this imagery and these messages all the time, but maybe we’re so used to it we’ve stopped saying, ‘hang on, what is this saying and what is it doing to us?’”

Indeed for Kay the popularity of conspiracy theories, particularly with young people, points to wider issues. “Ultimately the thing that worries me about conspiracy theories is that there’s passivity to it. It’s like we can’t control anything, it’s all controlled by this shadowy elite and there’s nothing that we can do. And of course, now more than ever, it isn’t. We’re the people, we have the power, we can change how the world is. I feel strongly that all my work has this sense that we invent the world, we invent reality. We don’t have to have it the way that it is if we want to change it.”

INTERVIEW: Rosie Kay / Brian SlaterRosie Kay positions MK ULTRA as the final piece in a RKDC trilogy, connected to previous shows 5 SOLDIERS and There is Hope by Kay’s commitment to subjects that dance “doesn’t normally talk about”. 5 SOLDIERS is about war: “I got into that by exploring the body in war. In any war, at any time, the place of war is the individual’s body.” There is Hope is about religion: “Evoking spirituality or the religious state through the body.”

And MK ULTRA? “This one started off politically and I think it’s getting back there, but through the spectrum of the pop world and looking at how bodies are used.” In all three works Kay explores some of life’s biggest questions, coloured by a dancer’s pre-occupation with the physicality of the human body.

After the UK tour of MK ULTRA the rest of 2017 is shaping up to be busy for Rosie Kay Dance Company, with plans almost confirmed for a revival tour of 5 SOLDIERS from late summer. Until then, it’s all about entering the “strange world” of MK ULTRA. And for all our chatting about conspiracy theories and politics, Rosie Kay is keen to underline the talent of her dancers. “Above all, MK ULTRA is just so much amazing dancing by amazing dancers. It’s really exhilarating.”

MK ULTRA (official trailer) – Rosie Kay Dance Company

MK ULTRA receives its world premiere performances at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 17th & 18th March and will tour to a further 10 venues across the UK until 18 May 2017. For direct event info from REP, including venue details and online tickets sales, click here.

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For more on MK Ultra, visit www.mkultra.dance

For more on Rosie Kay Dance Company, visit www.rosiekay.co.uk

For more from REP, including a full event programme and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

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