FESTIVAL THEATRE | Theatre As Gig
The Castle Builder Animal (Are you a Proper Person?)
funk, dubstep crawling from the pristine sound of Detroit techno and reggae low-end depth. The inl uence of performance, already clear in David Bowie’s theatricality or the frantic live shows of GWAR or Rammstein, is now encouraging musicians and directors to blur the boundaries for mutual advantage. Chris Redmond is an old hand at blending poetry and music. ‘Animal has come out of Tongue Fu, the show I run with spoken word and improvised music. Stylistically it’s pretty omnivorous,’ he says. Using the band from the show, ‘we’re jumping between i lm soundtracks, boogie woogie piano, funky drum solos, a preposterous re-working of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, heavy drum and bass and pretentious art-hop,’ he continues. ‘It doesn’t sit in any one place for long.’ This restless inventiveness, long the preserve of the experimental theatre- maker and the avant-garde musician, offers a winning alternative to the staid, script-heavy performance that can weigh down many theatre productions.
Yet ‘theatre as gig’ can evoke other, more rel ective moods. Daffodils (A Play With Songs) teams Kitan Petkovski and Rochelle Bright with the band LIPS for a nostalgic and romantic trip to 1960s New Zealand, with LIPS providing a soundtrack that matches the bittersweet tale. Petkovski and Bright found working with musicians gave the script a particular structure.
‘We learnt that our process involves a very i nely detailed breakdown for the actors that is beat by beat matched by the band,’ they say.
‘Then in live performance, there is this balancing act between everyone, making small shifts, to keep each moment feeling authentic and real. I think this style of performance for music theatre is unique.’ These subtle adjustments contrast with the broad, dynamic energy of Kid Carpet or Tongue Fu, but share an enthusiasm for live music during a performance which is not quite a musical, nor a straight-ahead gig. Whether the performances are dei ned as ‘plays with music’ or ‘theatre gigs’, they build on both the measured creativity of the play and the emotive appeal of popular music. Outside of the Fringe, theatre sometimes struggles to i nds its place within contemporary culture – despite the inclusion of acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor in the International Festival, or the brutal adaptation of Macbeth by Black Sun Drum Korps, it can be labelled as high art and exclude younger audiences.
While the simple grafting of one medium onto another is not revolutionary, and rock’n’roll still trades on a reputation for rebellion that has hardly been delivered since the death of punk, its rich collection of attitudes and tempers provides an energy that can be lacking in yet another adaptation of even challenging scripts like Beckett. Perhaps the ‘theatre as gig’ refers
back to the classical Athenian theatre, which was as musical as it was literary. But Kid Carpet concludes with a sentiment that suggests high ambitions. ‘To put evocative music alongside meaningful text, costume and design is akin to alchemy, enlightenment and the bedrock of spiritual practice.’ Putting the Band Back Together, Northern Stage at Summerhall, 560 1581, 8–27 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 4.50pm, £12 (£10). Previews 6 & 7 Aug, £10.
The Castle Builder, Summerhall, 560 1581, 5–28 Aug (not 15, 22), 12.55pm, £12 (£8). Previews 3 & 4 Aug, £6.
Greater Belfast, Traverse, 228 1404, 5–28 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), times vary, £18.50 (£8.50–£13.50). Preview 4 Aug, £12 (£8.50). Animal (Are You a Proper Person?), Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 6–28 Aug (not 15, 22), 5.30pm, £12–£13 (£10). Previews 4 & 5 Aug, £7.
Daffodils (A Play with Songs), Traverse, 228 1404, 7–28 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), times vary, £20.50 (£8.50–£15.50). Previews 4, 6 Aug, £14.50 (£8.50).
Daffodils (A Play with Songs)
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84 THE LIST FESTIVAL 4–11 Aug 2016