'In-Yer-Face Theatre' a Review of Aleks Sierz excellent Website

It was with great interest that on Thursday night I started reading a website found by LibraryGirl. Now this website is called http://www.inyerface-theatre.com/ and is dedicated to a type of theatre that ‘grabs the audience by the scruff of the neck and shakes it until it gets the message’ a type of theatre that the author of this website Aleks Sierz obviously believes to be the best form of theatre. Now whilst I have some real reservations over this ‘genre’ of theatre I have to praise the website for its abundance of interesting information. The website has a lengthy and detailed description of inyerface theatre and its characteristics, an A-Z of inyerface terms and practitioners, a chronology of inyerface pieces from 1990-2010 and much much more. Its well laid out and very well written and is a brilliant reference tool for anyone studying the works of renowned playwrights such as Sarah Kane and Mark Ravenhill.

However…

I still cannot get my head around this idea that theatre has to be inyerface to be relevant or to get your point across to an audience. There are so many things to consider when we come across the types of sweeping statements such as:

“In the 1990s, a revolution took place in British theatre. Out went all those boring politically correct plays with tiny casts portraying self-pitying victims; overthrown were all those pale imitations of European directors' theatre; brushed aside were all those shreds of self-regarding physical theatre and long-winded, baggy state-of-the-nation plays”

I am sorry but that situation of the 1990s… its still here and to a certain extent more rife than ever. Yes there is now the New Writing schemes that produce a lot of new works in our country but I would argue that the physical theatre trend was never swept away and as for ‘baggy state-of-the-nation plays’ what do you call the work of David Hare? I would say that physical theatre and inyerface has moulded into something together in many ways at a smaller level.

I have seen this inyerface idea manifest itself in a lot of young actors who seem to think it’s a way of showing your artistic intellect. This aggressive form of performance seems to be a way for them to show off how ‘with it’ they are and how they can confront people with ‘issues’. I remember watching a piece during my University days where a performer performed a physical piece that involved a mirror and her stripping off her top slowly in a very disturbed and painful way to reveal her mass of bruises as she was obviously an abuse victim. Was it powerful? Not really as I think that television shows such as Eastenders have portrayed these storylines in a much more powerful way. Then there was a colleague of mine who played Caliban in our adaptation of ‘The Tempest’ who insisted on being topless and really trying to raise the bar on the story of her character. In the end Caliban being topless didn’t add anything; the whole inyerface attitude was stunted by our usage of the traditional Shakespeare text. Would it have enhanced the piece if we had all used an inyerface attitude towards the original text? Perhaps but then again it could have fallen completely flat. So do I see the point of these extremes to further a theatrical message? No I do not really.

inyerface-theatre.com goes on to talk about how the language in it is filthy, there is nudity and sex, violence, taboos being broken, abuse is dished out, theatrical conventions are smashed and all other sorts of weird and dark things happen. Big deal! I am sorry but I generally hear the foulest uses of the English language on a daily basis just walking from a-b, the internet is full of nudity and live sex shows I can watch to my hearts content, abuse is shown frequently on tv as a storyline in every drama and soap opera and everyone is smashing theatrical convention even in massive establishment successes such as The 39 Steps. However my favourite one is that taboos are being broken, pardon? Excuse me? Taboos get broken? When did the theatre ever have any taboos, I mean the true honest theatre, you go back to the origins during the Grecian period the playwright Aeschylus wrote a trilogy of plays about Oedipus the man who killed his father so he could marry his mother. Yes not one but three plays about a man who commits incest, written at the beginning of theatre. To be completely blunt I think that its passé now for anyone to suggest that they can truly shock a live audience with their piece. After all everything has to be checked two or three times, the health and safety measures within theatrical venues require it to be so. I guess the only thing that would truly move people would be if you killed somebody on the stage, not that it would ever happen, you couldn’t even shock them by doing an autopsy because its already been seen on Channel 4. This is where inyerface fanatics have to realise that television and film along with their own works have burned out their chance to shock, in 1991 The Pitchfork Disney by Philip Ridley outraged and sickened the audience with its vomiting and cockroach eating, now 3 weeks before Christmas we all tune in to watch minor celebrities do just that in Australia.

Inyerface has had its day, its still relevant in that it did help usher in a new era of British playwrights whose success means that today the new writers schemes at theatres like The Bush and Royal Court are better than ever. Without these pioneers there would be less new material but nowadays inyerface it doesn’t really exist except in the pages of books and essays by people who think it was the bees knees.

I would like to thank Aleks Sierz for his wonderful website http://www.inyerface-theatre.com/ which has provided me with a lot of thoughts and interesting discussion points. Sierz is currently the runner of another theatre website called http://www.theatrevoice.com/ and his book on inyerface theatre is available from amazon: here

UPDATE: The Society for Theatre Research is holding a lecture on the 16th of February at the Art Workers Guild in London with Aleks Sierz talking about his book and inyerface. More information can be found: here

Xtofer

Review: The 39 Steps UK Tour. Connaught Theatre Worthing 03/02/10

The 39 Steps

On the 3rd of February 2010 my girlfriend LibraryGirl and I attended the Connaught Theatre in Worthing to watch one of the best plays currently touring the UK, The 39 Steps based upon the novel by John Buchan.

Now I haven't been to see a play at the Connaught since 2001 when I saw Flatspin by Ayckbourn and LibraryGirl has never seen a play at the venue so this was going to be an experience for both of us.

We arrived with about 20 minutes to go before curtain up and there was a lot of people in the foyer trying to get to the refreshments kiosk, I didn't go up to Frasers bar so I didn't see how busy that was but the kiosk was busy all night but more on that later. When we picked up our tickets I went to get a programme for the show, instantly getting out a fiver I didn't expect to get much change considering the price of programmes on the West End. I was surprised to find that the programme was only £2.50 which to me is a bargain.

We entered the auditorium to find that the set for the show is visible even during the breaks and pre show; it is a false proscenium arch with a red curtain and two theatre boxes. Now I have never seen the 39 Steps the film (any of the three versions) and I have not read it either so this set piqued my interest instantly. The theatre started filling up and by the time the curtain went up I would say they were two thirds full. In fact some of the people in the audience had seen the play numerous times on the West End before and because it was touring had come to see it again, high praise indeed, I was now very excited.

Then it began.

The fourth wall is instantly broken within the first scene of the play to allow us the audience to realise we are as much a part of the play as the actors. Then all sorts of chaos break loose. The story is like an avalanche of melodrama and comedy rolling down upon the audience at break neck speed. This is well managed chaos, the type of chaos that enhances the story of the escape from the police and heightens the tension of the espionage plot. The fact that there are only 4 actors in the cast playing all the roles also feeds into the spy plot really well as you start asking yourself 'who is really who?' 'Is he a police officer or a spy?' and so on. The other part of the on stage chaos is the obvious lack of seriousness during the majority of the play, there is such a tongue in cheek feel to this piece that it feels friendly and warm and like a shared experience between audience and performer.

The acting is top notch, the way I have described the show as chaotic and lacking in seriousness probably belies the fact that it is such a tight production and obviously painstakingly rehearsed. Performances feeling as spontaneous as this are always very well rehearsed to get that feeling, you also need some very special actors who can pull it off. Luckily the cast in this show is the best.

Dugald Bruce-Lockhart who plays Richard Hannay is fantastic as the dashing and bumbling lead character. His accent reminds me of Alexander Armstrong but his entire demeanour evokes a different era, his stiff upper lip cannot get any stiffer and his British wit is cutting in its delivery.

The Olivier Award Nominated Katherine Kingsley as Annabella/Pamela/Margaret is brilliant moving from high hammy melodrama as Annabella, through soft realistic tones as Pamela to the pure romance of Margaret. Her characters are all distinctly different and if I had no idea that there was only a cast of four I would have thought there were 3 different actresses on the stage.

However good the two 'leads' are this show really belongs to Richard Braine and Dan Starkey as Man 1 & Man 2. These two play ALL the other parts in the 39 Steps, whether it is the Palladiums Compere and Mister Memory, the sinister men with lamppost (very funny) or the hotel keepers they keep the story rolling along with their fabulous acting and physical comedy. Braine is perfect in this role as his work on children’s slapstick series such as Bodger and Badger, Bernard’s Watch and Chucklevision has provided him with a lot of experience for this kind of acting. Starkey on the other hand is in many ways on a whole other level, his clowning is phenomenal, his comedic timing is bang on and his portrayal of the ancient Scottish Politician canvassing votes is perhaps the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. The energy these two exude into the piece makes this show memorable and a true theatrical event.

The actual production itself is genius; all the main set pieces are reusable in different ways. They use 3 trunks, 2 ladders, 2 chairs, 1 portable fire place and 1 wardrobe that contains a hotel bedroom! To be honest if needed the production doesn't even need the fake arch with built in boxes, it would still be extremely effective with just a bare stage and these bits of set. And therein lies the genius of this production, it is so well thought out, so well constructed and rehearsed that it could all be pared back and still be amazing. The concept for the 39 steps is just brilliant it makes me super jealous I hadn't thought of it.

So overall did we enjoy the show? Well LibraryGirl did and so did I, I absolutely loved it. It was brilliant and I wish I had bought tickets for every night because I could watch it again and again and never get bored. I recommend it to anyone as this is really a show for the whole family despite some mild violence. There is nothing offensive it just good old fashioned fun.

What about The Connaught? Well at the interval we went for ice creams, there was a long line yet I was only waiting for a minute as they had a fluid system going and it was only £1.70 each for an ice cream which is yet again another bargain. We sat in Row J seats 4 and 5 which I wouldn't recommend because its right by the entrance to the auditorium and getting out at the end was challenging as people barged past. However if you go to the venue to see a movie sit in row J in the middle for the best view in the house.

All in all a bargain night out for West End quality theatre at a fraction of the price. Will I go to the Connaught again to see a play again? Definitely.

For more info on 39 Steps see: http://www.love39steps.com/

For the Connaught see: http://www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/

Coming Soon!

Coming soon on Head Theatre...

Review of 39 Steps tour coming on Thursday. It looks really good and Worthing Theatres is sold out for tonights performance which is good news....

Worthing Theatres Open Day 31/01/2010: The Head Theatre Review

Worthing Theatres Open Day

Today Worthing Theatres opened the doors to its three very different venues to the general public for free and I have to say it was a great success. Unluckily being a fool I did forget to fully charge our digital camera so we only got shots of the Connaught really, but the pics we took were mostly interesting and I will post them in the blog. So here is my review of the day.

Doors were supposed to open at 12 Noon and there was a nice group of us in the Connaughts Lobby by 11:45 and plenty of staff who were happy to chat to you and answer questions. At Midday we entered the main Auditorium of the Connaught Theatre, now I haven't been in there since they showed 'This is It' last year and was very impressed with the new seats, and also the wonderful work done on the previously tatty boxes. The stage was free of set and sound equipment generally, apart from the equipment for the lecture that would later take place, so we could walk up there and look around.

The Connaughts Stage

Me looking uncomfortable on the stage!

From the stage Abby and I were allowed to explore the theatre pretty much to our hearts content, the only place that seemed off limits was the fly floor although thats probably a good thing health and safety wise. After being on the stage we moved down into the ground floors dressing rooms. On our exit we noticed a much loved sign.

 

Little things like this kept catching our eyes as we walked around the theatre, after seeing the ground floor dressing rooms we were allowed below the stage where Worthing Theatres Manager Peter Bailey was giving a little Q&A. Down there is where they store the majority of their lamps and effects machines.

Lights stored under the stage.

We also noticed a couple of trap door mechanisms and got to ask a few questions about the way shows are put into the theatre. All questions were answered and the staff were very helpful. After being under the stage it was up to the second level and into the other dressing rooms. This too was very interesting each one had obviously been modernised over time but still had their links to the past with various photos in frames of past stars and productions.

We were making our way out when we realised that we were by the staircase that must be the one reported in the last couple of incidents regarding the Connaughts infamous 'Grey Lady'.

Sadly no sight of the Grey Lady.

We took some more photos and then decided to retire to the auditorium once more where we went into one of the boxes and enjoyed one of the technicians lectures on lighting/sound and film within the Connaught and Ritz. Of course it was very interesting and well presented with the only snag being that the sound wasn't working for his demonstration. It was a very eye opening talk which revealed many things about the theatre including the fact that they are going to, hopefully, be installing 3D into the Connaught at some point in the next year and they are just choosing the format. A good sign that Connaught is trying to be more competitive as a cinema and continue its excellent service to our community. Then before we left for the Pavillion we checked out the theatres bar, I wish I had taken some photos as there are some real period features in there.

The Lecture

The Pavillion Theatre Worthing is a beautiful venue capable of seating over 900 audience members and is generally used for Stand Up Comedy, Musicals and Concerts nowadays. Originally built as a concert hall it has changed over the years and forms part of Worthings Award Winning Peir complex. I only took one photo of the Pavillion before our camera went to sleep for the day, I won't make that mistake again, it is of the classic ceiling and chandeliers of the building.

The Pavillion tour was very short, there was no chance of going under the stage but we did get to see all the backstage and dressing rooms including a very grand dressing room for the stars. Where the kids who perform during Panto at the Pavillion are kept who knows for there is remarkably little space back there.

We went up to the control room where a young technician was speaking about how the sound board and lighting system worked. The rig at the Pavillion is bigger than that at the Connaught so there was a lot more to see.

After leaving the Pavillion we headed to the Assembly Hall where we often go to watch Premier Promotions and were delighted to see the Wurlitzer Organ out on display and being played. Unfortuanately no camera meant no pics but I did look up their website and found some excellent picture.

http://www.worthing-wurlitzer.org/

In the Assembly Halls again we looked at the backstage area of dressing rooms and equipment lock ups, we also looked under the stage and then at the control room where children were getting the chance to experience a lighting board. We then sat and watched about 20 minutes of the Wurlitzer being played which was very enjoyable, I have never really thought about going to see an Organ concert but it was lovely music and I would love to see it again.

All in all a great day out seeing a lot of the inner workings of Worthing Theatres. Of course I have almost an obsession with the Connaught and so I found that one the most interesting of the three. However I must commend the entire staff at Worthing Theatres for their hospitality and help. I found them all very nice and chatty with an obvious love for their jobs, something which is really a credit to the organisation. The only negative I can give on the day, one which is not all the fault of Worthing Theatres, is the lack of attendance. We saw many older people, at one point in the Connaught we were the youngest people there! However as the day wore on we saw more children and young adults attending, I blame this on the lack of advertising. I did not see any advert on the Worthing Theatres Website, or read about it in the local main papers such as the Argus or the Herald. I heard about it through one of my partners Colleagues who also works for Worthing Theatres. The only media advert I believe was released was an article within the free weekend paper 'The Weekend Guardian' which isn't available everywhere in Worthing, this is just poor advertising which made it harder work for Worthing Theatres to get as many people through the doors as possible so they could sell tickets.

I hope today spiked ticket sales for Worthing Theatres but most of all I want to say thank you to them all for giving us nearly 100% access of some wonderful venues. I only wish I had an interview with Peter Bailey the Theatre Manager to go along with this review, however he has so far ignored my emails. I will try and still get it as there were questions I wanted to ask but didn't get the chance.

So Thank You Worthing Theatres and good luck with this coming season...

For more info check out

http://www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/