Slava's Snow Show

After a mentally busy few days - and too many nights away from my own bed - despite my physical inability NOT to look forward to the theatre, taking a class on a trip this evening was not feeling so appealing. Partly because I'd fallen asleep on the train back to London from Birmingham and had a beautiful pattern of pressure marks on my face where I'd been leaning on my woolly hat. Not as bad as realising I had a ring of hot chocolate on my face for the whole hour I'd been chatting to the cute guy next to me on the plane back from Glasgow on Friday, but that's another story.

Yet, despite sleep deprivation, aching limbs and the end of a cold, this particular show blew me away. In fact, at one point, I thought it might literally blow half the audience across the auditorium. SLAVA'S SNOW SHOW - an international successful clowning masterpiece.

Slava Polunin - acclaimed as 'the best clown in the world' - from Ovlovsk, brought his character Asisayai to the Southbank's Winter Festival, complete with yellow boiler suit, red nose and fluffy red slippers.  His style of 'Expressive Idiotism' is one to which I think we should all aspire. After all, who doesn't need more comedy falls in their life?? Because, watching the show, I had some startling flashes of insight I think it's important I share with you:

1. Falling off chairs is FUNNY

2. Massive shoes are FUNNY

3. Folding yourself up like a concertina and looking like you're the Wicked Witch of the West post-H₂O: FUNNY.

And, fundamentally: we are all children. Even children - who sometimes forget it. And what better way to remind ourselves than to be in a room where paper snow flakes are falling from the sky and giant inflatable balls are zooming towards your head at an alarming rate amid shouts of 'Bash the purple one, BASH IT!'

However, although wholly playful and pushing physical comedy through a beautifully crafted lens of snow storms and magic lanterns, the dark side of The Clown was omnipresent. With the first half opening with the two clowns trying to hang themselves with either end of the same rope, morbidity and the loneliness of the outcast were the starting note. Indeed, a touch of research into Polunin's method shows that he takes his main inspiration from the 'poetic sadness of Leopnid Engibarov's clownery, the refined philosophising of Marcel Marceau's pantomime, and the humanity and comic poignancy of great Chaplin's films'. 

It was also bloody beautiful. And the chorus of clowns alongside were superb. Especially the baby clown - bring back the baby clown! With scenes that gave a nod to an eclectic mix of cultural and theatrical references - his take on Woman in Black and A Brief Encounter were exceptional - and a cast of men in funny hats and long shoes, who looked like a cross between scarecrows, Puddleglum the marsh-wiggle, and shocked spaniels, the whole show was an assault on the senses and diaphragm (the Afghan students I was accompanying were mortified by how loudly I was laughing). 

   

Slava's theatre is one where: 'It is a king of wedding cavalcade, where I try to marry everyone to everyone.' And what better way than through laughter and a GIANT snow ball fight?!!

p.s. One of my favourite moments of the show - aside from the repeated-falling-off-a-chair-sketch - was the ending where a blazing blizzard blew out into the audience, to a crescendo of O Fortuna. 

A little bit of googling led me to this. Which in the spirit of clowning, I thought I would share:

 

Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons

Wot is Justice - Ashworth Special Hospital, Mixed Media 
. 

Last week I attended the Arts Alliance's excellent 'Celebrating Performing Arts in Prisons' event, which reminded me that - other in than in my post about Massey-Chasing Boris - I haven't yet done a proper post about Free: Art by Offenders, Secure Patients and Detainees, the Koestler Trust 50th Annual UK Exhibition of Prison Arts, currently on at the Southbank Centre.

Other than obviously being a big fan of prison arts, free exhibitions and indeed the Southbank, this exhibition is of particularly significance to me, as I have my own very small link to one of the exhibited works. The back story to this is that my twin sister and I have a little competition every Christmas over who can get the best, cheapest present (which has to be under £5). Last xmas, she rather thought outside the box, and decided to not spend any money on me directly. Instead, she donated to the Koestler Trust and, as a surprise, named an award for this year's exhibition after me. Which was a lovely present and I even shed a little tear over it. So, this year, when you rock over to the Southbank Centre, look out for the Kate Massey-Chase Commended Award for Drawing.

I didn't choose the picture or anything, but it's still very exciting to feel part of an exhibition so close to my heart, even in just a small way. And this is the picture Sarah Lucas, the curator, chose to win my award:  

It's called 'The Moment', and you probably can't see it, but the title of the piece of music the subject is composing is 'A New Life'. The artist came from HMP Parkhurst. He says about it:

I wanted people to know that any form of artwork can be created anywhere by anyone and...change people's lives...by inspiring them...in some way that will make their world a better place to be. It is an incredible feeling as an artist when a work is completed, so I also tried to depict that moment. 

And here are my personal favourites from the exhibition (all images come from the Koestler Trust website): 

Wasted! - HM Prison Channings Wood, James Wood Q.C. Silver Award for Mixed Media

Sorrows to Follow - HM Prison Send, Margaret Wignall Highly Commended Award for Portraits 

The Pain I Cause - HM Prison Full Sutton, Gustave Courbet Highly Commended Award for Portraits

The artist of the last piece says:

I never did think I had anything to give to anyone not even myself, but through my art I find that I do. I now believe I can do anything and through my art I can express myself and I know I will not be coming back to prison. I know I have a future so I will be able to give back something to try to make amends.

The whole exhibition is fantastic, so hopefully these will have whet your appetite and you'll hurry down to the Southbank Centre before Nov. 25th, when it finishes, to take a look.

My next plan, although she doesn't know it yet, is to get my twin sister to donate a lump sum to Clean Break, so they can fund their Access course (which I volunteered on in 2011, and is a fantastic course, which enables female ex-offenders and women vulnerable to offending through drug use or mental health needs to progress through further education, to the point they could apply to a degree level course at university - which many do). It really saddens me that this course isn't funded at the moment, as it has the capacity to make a really meaningful and lasting change to the lives of women who aren't always given the chances they need and deserve. So, when Becca asks me what I want for my birthday.... The Kate Massey-Chase Access Course, please! Sadly, she works in the charitable sector, and despite growing vegetables, riding her bike, and wanting to change the world, she hasn't quite got the finances to fund all my arty social justice endeavours. Why did my parents encourage us to do meaningful jobs, that would fulfil us, and shit??! I live in a house with mould on my bedroom ceiling and damp coming through the walls, and Becca can't fund my predilection for supporting prison arts charities. What's that about? 

Anyway, on a more positive note, at the conference last week we had a bunch of practical workshops, with arts organisations working in prisons, and that included an EXCELLENT workshop with Good Vibrations where we all got to play the Gamelan! I'm all about the Javanese gongs right now. 

Equilibrium

Check out my first article for Equilibrium Magazine for Wellbeing on EPIDEMIC, a piece of community theatre by Old Vic New Voices:

http://issuu.com/antz333/docs/equilibrium_magazine?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

Turn to page 18!

Or, alternatively, you can read it by going to:

http://www.equilibriummag.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/epidemic-piece-of-community-theatre.html

At the end of the day...it was NOT miserable

Too many blog posts to write, too little time... I keep thinking of things I want to write about (and even vaguely composing them in my head on the tube), but so few of them seem to happen; my life has been pretty mental recently - lots of new things to relate on here job-wise...I should probably write a blog post about them!

But I really do want to mention my exciting day last Sunday (not updating chronologically, but hey, as my students would say: 'And what?').

I think it will take me a very long time to forget Sunday 11th March 2012. Firstly, I got to spend a beautiful day on the wonderful Annie McKean's narrow boat (she even let me drive a little bit!), with friends and family, on a gorgeous spring day. The kind where, as Philip Larkin would say, 'The trees are coming into leaf/ Like something almost being said'. THEN we went to HMP Erlstoke to see Les Miserable, a Pimlico Opera production, with professionals and prisoners.

It was seeing West Side Story by Pimlico Opera in HMP Winchester, when I was 14 years old, that triggered the epiphany moment where I realised what I wanted to do with my life. As the men stood there singing:

There's a place for us

Somewhere a place for us

Peace and quiet and open air

Wait for us 

Somewhere.

There's a time for us

Somewhere a time for us

Time together with time spare

Time to learn, time to care

Some day!

 ...etc!

I remember the hairs standing up on the back of my neck; feeling shocked and sad and proud and filled with hope. I thought: the arts AND social justice - my two favourite things!

HMP Erlstoke

Skip forward ten years and I'm queuing to get into another prison (my fifth?) and I'm thinking: Les Mis AND Prison Theatre - my two favourite things! (Nearly - please forgive my rhetorical flourishes, Miss Fox, cheesecake and my family). I do have a particular attachment to Les Mis, not just because I love the music and I have strong memories of choreographing dances to 'At the End of the Day' with my sisters in our living room when I was little, but also because over last summer while I was writing my thesis and permanently had my head in a library, whenever I was feeling despairing or uninspired or angry with the librarians using 'Outdoor Voices' (I thought I was going to commit librarianicide), I used to plug my headphones in and listen to songs from the soundtrack on Youtube until I felt ready to work again. Many a day spent sitting in the sticky heat, staring at piles of pointless paper and listening to 'One Day More' VERY loudly....

Anyway, this isn't just a little Les Mis memory fest. No, no, no. I really want to talk about what went on inside HMP Erlstoke that beautiful spring evening, how powerful, affecting and inspiring it was.  As I said, I've seen a number of Pimlico productions before. They have a very different methodology to the other Prison Theatre companies I've worked with, namely Playing for Time and Clean Break, although I won't go into an in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of each now; you'll have to take me for a coffee (and a brownie, the brownie is obligatory) to hear my detailed analysis of the prisoner experience, the aesthetic merits and the complexities of process Vs product, if you want to get my fuller views on the subject. But I will just say that this year I was really pleased to see the prisoners were more integral to and integrated into the final production, with only the women and Jean Valjean and Javert played by professionals. The prisoners playing Marius, Gavroche and Thenardier stood out as particularly excellent. It was such a good choice of musical, as well, as there are obviously themes of justice, culpability and redemption throughout. Think: 'Look down/ Look down/ They've all forgotten you', 'Drink with me to days gone by/ To the life that used to be' and, evocatively, 'Who am I?'

Who were they?   Actors.       Artists.         Brave.

Les Mis in HMP Erlstoke - image from Pimlico Opera website

Totem

Not exactly Applied Theatre-related, but just need a quick chance to rave about Totem by Cirque du Soleil, directed by Robert Lepage, which I saw on Sunday night as a belated birthday present from my dad and his wife.

I've been a big Lepage fan for years, ever since I saw The Dragons' Trilogy when I was at sixth form, and had never seen Cirque du Soleil before and always wanted to, so Totem looked perfect.

The multi-talented Mr Robert Lepage

And it was! Mind-blowing. In fact, I kept realising I was holding my breath and grabbing the edge of my seat during the various acts - partly because despite intellectually knowing that they probably weren't going to fall and die (they hadn't so far), I kept waiting for something to go wrong.

It made me realise: a) they must have all trusted each other A LOT; b) they must have trusted themselves A LOT; c) sometimes you do have to see something to believe it; d) beauty is under-rated; e) tree-frogs are under-rated; f) I can't even juggle and have little chance of successfully running away with the circus. It is a sad thing. I'm sure I realised some other even more profound things - the kind of profundity that can only be contemplated in the wake of beautiful art, but turns to ghosts and shadows when the curtain goes down - but I'm not sure what they were. All I know is that when I shut my eyes to go to sleep a couple of hours later, the evolution of the world was dancing around in leotards and leaping between trapezes on the inside of my eyelids.

It was magic. 

Maybe I'll practice my juggling. I can almost do two balls now...