This play will loom in your conscience with uncomfortable truths and disturbing tension in hanging over the space; Brechtian without losing humanity, Evros is unavoidably relevant in its disturbing illustration of oppressive systems and dehumanisation.
Mixed performances and an unsubtle script leave Fast a little unsatisfying as it never allows itself to elaborate on the themes established without being painfully obvious. Fast never really gets off the ground in this slightly unengaging, confused story about manipulation and coercion.
For the past 5 years, arts development organisation Certain Blacks have curated various festivals supporting a range of theatre voices. Diversifying our industry, they ‘present art from the margins [and bring them] into the mainstream’. Their latest offering, ‘Circus Circus Circus’ showcases an eclectic line up of live art, spoken word, jazz, opera and circus and takes over Rich Mix London and Hoxton Hall throughout November. Artistic Director Clive Lyttle tells us more about curating this year’s line up, how he’s found the process of supporting artists and how artists can get involved with future events!
Certain Blacks return with their latest festival, ‘Circus Circus Circus’, a mixed programme of live art, spoken word, jazz, opera and circus. An eclectic performance line up, Certain Blacks continue on their mission to showcase works exploring themes via various theatrical forms. Bringing his and Marv Radio’s latest show Hip Hop Palace to Rich Mix London on Thursday 7th November, Dance Artist Muti Musafiri and Marv’s production is an exploration of the values of Hip Hop and how very often popular culture tends to hijack elements of it without knowing enough about the multifaceted culture. Muti tells us more about the show!
Anupama Chandrasekhar’s play is an onslaught of misogyny, violence against women and shock tactics, which leads to an unsettling, if a little glib, two hours of drama. Ibsen’s Ghosts is one of the entities that inspire the narrative, particularly focusing in this instance on a father’s sins. The true story of the girl gang-raped in Delhi, India in 2012 is another inspiration. It’s a heavy evening, filled with bold decisions and potent symbolism.
Courtesy of Mark Douet.
An exceptionally intimate reconsideration of hyper-masculinity, Shook is brilliantly structured in its damning condemnation of a system that leaves many without aspirations. Although it’s a little on the nose at times, Samuel Bailey and Papatango manage to present a compelling narrative of three young offenders facing unanswerable questions.
Welcome to Bear Ridge, a snowy mountain village suspended in time, once thriving but now forgotten. Ed Thomas’s setting for On Bear Ridge possesses an uncanny resemblance to the current neglected valleys of Wales – places that have been lost to the attractive cities that chug with power and production. Cities that have no time for the sleepy likes of John Daniel (Rhys Ifans) and Noni (Rakie Ayola), the convivial shop owners of Bear Ridge Stores who, with slaughterhouse boy Ifan William (Sion Daniel Young), refuse to leave their much loved home.
Courtesy of Mark Douet.
Certain Blacks return with their latest festival, ‘Circus Circus Circus’, a mixed programme of live art, spoken word, jazz, opera and circus. An eclectic performance line up, Certain Blacks continue on their mission to showcase works exploring themes via various theatrical forms. Bringing his latest show 24 Italian Songs and Arias to Rich Mix London on Friday 8th November, Performance Artist and Storyteller Brian Lobel’s production is an exploration of failure, loss and family; presented in the form of an operatic recital. Joined by soprano Gweneth Ann Rand, both performers reflect on previous experiences. Brian tells us more about the show!
Over the top and elaborately self-deprecating, High Fidelity plays on masculine displacement of responsibility while offering a slightly tropey adaptation of Nick Hornby’s romcom of the same name. No matter how witty, charming, occasionally perceptive and colourful this musical is; I can’t help but leave with a feeling of something being missing.
Courtesy of Mark Senior.
After his rather unsuccessful venture Caspar Western Friedrich, director Philippe Quesne returns to the Münchner Kammerspiele with a pastoral set in a dystopian future. Humanity has finally succeeded in destroying itself. Only four scarecrows remain on a farm, archivists of the past who run their own radio station.
Courtesy of Martin Argyroglo.
Four actors dressed up as scarecrows enter the stage, carrying hay bales, partially decorated with political slogans, and singing, “I’m Walking to a Farm to Grow Wheat”. They are wearing masks, and hay is sticking out of their hand-me-down clothes. Their voices sound alien. One scarecrow seems to record a bird singing but the sad truth is that all the birds have become extinct and the birdsong is just the playback of a recording. What a pity that scarecrows were always working to keep the birds away, and now they are sorely missed. This thought is too much for Sissi (Julia Riedler), she turns off the recording. The scarecrows share stories about the farmers for whom they used to work. All of them are dead. Most of them having taken their lives because industrialised farming and glyphosate destroyed their farms. Only the genetically modified super cows survived. When the insects died, the birds died. Maybe they committed suicide as well? They decide that this might be a good topic for one of their radio shows. Suddenly a French scarecrow, who has been an avid listener to their pirate station, arrives. A former activist, whoused to attend protests against pollution and climate change, he would like to join this community of scarecrows. He is welcomed with open arms.
Although Quesne’s production features an apocalyptic future, the scarecrows remain optimistic. Globi (Stefan Merki), who used to work on an organic farm, actually finds one remaining queen bee named Margrit, who is immediately interviewed for the radio program. Globi has to interpret for Margrit because she speaks only Swiss German. The interview concludes with a rendition of the song “Stand by Me”, dedicated to the last queen bee flying. After quite a bit of slapstick and beckettian moments, we find out that the scarecrows are really “carecrows” guarding a huge truck filled with magical glowing eggs, which they intend to take into the world to hopefully create new life.
Kammerspiele actors Julia Riedler, Stefan Merki und Damien Rebgetz are joined by Léo Gobin and Gaetan Vourc´h from the Théatre Nanterre-Amandiers in Paris, the co-producer of this world premiere. Their performances are convincing and provide subtle comedy.
Usually there is very little dialogue in a Duquesne production but this time the scarecrows are quite talkative. They sing and recite Shakespearean verses and poetry, mostly in English. Their voices are so alienated that the text is rather difficult to understand. This is another aspect – just like the elaborate masks – that reminds one of Susanne Kennedy’s work. Both directors tend to focus on the visual aspects of a production, and Quesne worked in stage design before founding the Vivarium Studio Company.
There are intriguing images and amusing scenes in this highly theatrical production, but the play drags on a bit. Quesne touches upon a number of philosophical and political questions, however he does not delve too deeply and maintains a chilled and rather joyful atmosphere. 3/5
Review written by Carolin Kopplin.
FARM FATALE will return on 27th October and 10th November 2019. For more info, click here…
The production is in English, there is also a bit of German and French.
