Vindication Swim: Channelling the Truth

Cold Water

One of the members of the radio play reading group I'm in was an extra in the Independent film: Vindication Swim, so a bunch of us went to see it premier at Worthing's magnificent Dome Cinema, a star in its own right, making our way past the Town Crier, in full regalia, posing for photographs in front of a sublime daffodil-coloured vintage car with rapt viewers.

Shock Value

It's a familiar sight nowadays to see a small knot of women on Brighton and Hove beaches in woolly hats, socks and gloves taking to he freezing sea during Autumn and Winter months - meant to boost one's immune system and invigorate one's health, according to Ice Man, Wim Hoff; the physical shock mitigated by resulting health benefits. 

Different Strokes

Strange, however, to revisit, on screen ,the beautifully sumptuous cars and costumes of the 1920s, then experience the sharp shock of society's attitudes back then. Stark contrasts between upper classes and lower classes; sharp divisions between male and female roles and social expectations; uncomfortable reminders of racial prejudices. For Mercedes Gleitze, the heroine of the story, being of German heritage was very much an issue, as well as her being a working class woman, attractive and single. The mores of society, then, meant she was unable to secure backing to fund her mission - to take up the challenge to be the first British woman to swim the English Channel.

The First Dip

None of us had heard of Mercedes Gleitze and her extraordinary feat, but then, neither had young writer-director, Elliott Hasler, the shock discovery of which prompted him to set about making her name and achievement more well known (in that he has succeeded; following the premier, the film will appear in a further 100 other cinemas) thus honouring the memory of Mercedes and all she had to overcome in order to fulfil her dream, which took 8 failed attempts, before success, 1927, and that fateful Vindication Swim the following year. 

Test of Endurance

Elliott was forced to abide by  Covid restrictions, which stretched filming to 4 years. Fortunately, after the screening, our evening was extended to include a Q&A session, between Elliot Hasler; debut star Kirsten Callaghan, and lead male John Locke (who deserves an Oscar for his face alone!) Fascinating to learn how Elliott made his 1st film at the age of 10, and a hugely successful follow-on at the age of 14; the story of his great-grandfather's escape from a prisoner-of-war camp during WW2

Success

Purely fired by passion for the craft of film-making, Elliott had never attended film school; and that dedication won the support of many; costumes and vintage cars, as well as equipment and technical skills were all offered to help support his labour of love. 

Kirsten wowed the audience by revealing she had not made use of any body-doubles; taking to the water and swimming as seen - in all conditions required. Her research for her debut role had led to a 15 second clip of Mercedes speaking at her wedding ~ all she had, on which to base her vocal performance, hinting at a young British woman of German heritage. 

Credits

There was a great deal of love evident at the premier. It appeared most of Worthing had turned up to show solidarity with this home-grown Independent biopic; many of whom were extras! The auditorium was packed, which brought about a false start to the film; an apology, and re-run of the first few minutes to ensure everyone was seated! 

Word is rippling out - creating waves of interest as more cinemas dive in. Elliott already made a big splash as a talented film-maker with his previous films; he is now entirely in his element. 

Come on in, the water's lovely! 

Tango for the 21st Century

The Dance of Life

 

Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui promised to add a contemporary twist to the original influences of Argentine Tango, and delivered right from the start. An overhead screen introduced a melange of Traditional moves, then the spotlight switched to a couple centre-stage. Slow, measured, tempered passion; going through all the usual moves: the pulpo, octopus-like leg entanglements; gancho, leg hooked around the other's leg or body, only they do it all back-to-back: like a couple who've had a heated argument; able to stay in the same room, stay in the relationship, but not yet able to face each other. They argue, yes, that's a complicated dance at the best of times, but through various shifts and turns are able to come face-to-face; see eye-to-eye. Extraordinary: the perfect start. Tango is about power, relationship, passion, desire, raw emotion: the pulse and rhythm of life. Intensity. Complexity. Entanglements. Social binds.

 

 

On-Screen Relationships

 

So much of life now is screen-based. Witness the man absorbed in orchestrating his life, arms upraised like a conductor, re-arranging scenes from his life on the big screen: enlarging, shifting, swiping, deleting. Memories, history, the storyboard of life. We see it all, over his shoulder. Voyeurs. He has his back to us. Smartphones are jealous gods, they demand undivided attention. The Screen is just that: a cover for real life. It plays an important part in the performance: projections & shadows. Real dancers perform (compete?) with their projections: larger than life - they can almost steal the show. They distract, as projections do, They can even be more active than the figures they stem from, leaving them at a standstill. There's a divide between what's real & what's superficial image, and how the two can interface, or not. I was reminded of Fred Astaire's 'Shadow Dance' with a touch of Buzby Berkeley. It highlighted that uncomfortable breach in relationship where you're not entirely sure what's going on.

 

 

"It Takes Two to Tango..."

 

Well, the contemporary twist to that is acknowledging, it more than likely takes three: including an ex- in the pulpo entanglements; plus, the arrastre, body dragged along behind, or still wrapped around a partner. Or, in the more time-honoured tradition of affairs, up close and passionate, behind the back of the one of the 3 at any given time. Ouch. A clever, creative take on relationships. If you can get together at all, that is, which is also taken into account. The awkwardness of sitting on the side-lines while everyone else is paired off; being in the same city / same gathering, yet not quite able to connect. Or, being so self-absorbed, important signals and flirtatious cues are missed, whilst practicing social strategies: comic touches added by the Lucille Ball-like character trying to gain the attention of Mr. Bean. Tango is relationship; and as such, includes how we move in our environments; caught up in the busy-ness and rush of city-life, that invariably ends in isolation: the antithesis of Tango. 

 

 

A passionate tour de force, beautifully enhanced by the small band of on-stage musicians, and the distinctive accordion that is the natural partner to the Tango - it breathes! And moves together / apart, but never divided. I recognized some of the music from my Nuevo Tango CD. A wonderful evocation of all that is Tango; its roots & fruits. A triumph all round. Bravo!

Summit: A Peek Experience

In The Beginning Was The Light...

 

...well, there was 'Summit' the new 3-act experience created by Andy Smith, bringing enlightenment to the audience at The Spire, at Brighton Festival 2017; a story-within-a-story-within-a-story.  A meeting to which we were privy; coming together to discuss the crisis. What crisis? Imagine. There's always crisis, or impending crisis. What's important is collectively taking responsibility: risk assessment; preparation; contingency plans; back-up plans; talking; listening; understanding; negotiating; co-operating; fact-finding; solution-seeking....being ready should the lights go out. The lights go out. It's what they do repeatedly - in life; in this production. We need to be on the same page: speak the same language....Therein lies the problem.

 

 I Think He's Trying to Tell Us Something....

 

Fast forward 1,000 years; replay the same old story: history repeats itself. Go back 5 yrs; return to the present: it's amazing what we can be achieve in an hour, if we all set our minds to it. But it's a strange state of affairs when a story's animatedly recounted in sign language. The hearing among us, captivated, but totally in the dark about what was actually being said: an interesting vicarious experience. Point well made.

 

 

 

The same story, told in 3 different languages; one I couldn't even identify. Each story very eloquent expressed, but what of use is that if we 'don't speak the same language'? Words aren't enough; only understanding makes the difference, the 'in' that begins the necessary switch from 'in-difference'. The Tower of Babel myth is about the destructive consequence of global arrogance - they were unprepared when the lights went out: plunging the world into the darkness that lack of understanding brings.  

 

 

There's an evolution of language within the delivery: a little bit Janet-&-John; a little bit Gertrude Stein; syntax - shot to pieces in verbal strobe-effect speech. Audio-pointillism...dot-dot-dot. 'Your lips are moving, but....' Hesitancy. Choosing one's words carefully. Making sense. Getting our heads around the issue at hand - from every angle. Trying to read the signs. The signs are there....

 

The signs are always there. (Do you read me? Copy). Perspective. Getting the right angle on things: looking around; looking ahead; looking back. Being present (and correct). It's about time; and it's about time we paid attention; become more aware of the part we all play in taking responsibility for where we're at & where we're headed, so we can pre-empt & prevent potential future disaster(s). In the far future 'we are more'; it could be that we have, as was stated, better communication; education; understanding; trust; respect; less division; global & financial domination; hierarchy; privatisation; devastation; more or less.

 

The summit of the story is - the summit - where we all were collectively at that time; our being present; meeting together. Experiencing enlightenment. The world is, in effect one big summit meeting, where we don't all speak the same language. But, just think, if we could rewind time - go back - 5 years - start again. Correct any mistakes; any mis-takes. Get it right. Learn from the past. Learn what we can now - Now before the lights go - !

 

Summit is Now. Summit is Current. Summit, like history, like a bad dream, repeats itself, until we 'get it'. Summit is a clever summation of the part we ourselves play in the process of 'getting it' - our collective responsibility to wake up & 'get' the message our messes can teach us. We're all in it together: times we're in the dark; times we're more enlightened. Theory, posturing, mouthing words, paying lip-service, going through the motions: none of that's enough. We need comprehension, lived understanding: lightbulb moments!

 

 Final photo: Andy Smith talking with Louise Blackwell - co-director of Fuel - the company that produced 'Summit'

 

 

 

Agamemnon - Dishing the Dirt

 A Dish Served Cold - in the House of Atreus

 

Ever seen those picture menus you get in some Chinese restaurants to make things easier? Just so, if you find it hard to get your head round the finer details of your average Greek Tragedy you can be pretty sure you'll see: Lust, War, Seduction; Betrayal, Blood, Rape...you get the picture. Even without any prior knowledge of the original play by Aeschylus, you'd be in no doubt it begins with unspeakable horror, superbly conveyed by Henry Touray, in the powerful opening scene of Windmill Young Actors presentation of Steven Berkoff's 'Agamemnon'. Forget knives & being 'carved up' in the traditional sense; here revenge is served in spoonfuls: a sorry mess of cruelty Atreus cooks up for the Thyestes, who took his wife as his 'bit on the side'. Welcome to the ancient Greek world of dog-eat-dog; insatiable sexual appetite & the lust for Revenge. The cast play on the Kali motif to great effect: spoons raised.....

 

For Starters....

Take 2 children, chop, slice, batter & boil. then serve in a bowl to daddy. This seemed to satisfy the cook, Atreus's need for revenge, but exacted a generational curse for his own family's bloodline. Hardly surprising, sick things like that don't go down easily; hard to stomach, it sticks in one's craw: we see Thyestes fishing out of his mouth 'the little nail with the moon still rising...' Cue: ptsd, ancient-Greek-style: everything heightened; flashbacks; bitter reflux. The trouble is - no-one ever seems satisfied with what's on their own plate; they're greedy for what the other man has, a curse in itself, but when that kind of hunger is satisfied by poaching, i.e. trespassing on someone else's estate, helping yourself to their 'bird' - 'fair game' - you're asking for trouble. The Greeks & Stephen Berkoff 'do' trouble really well: graphic. The cast delivered: a visceral take-out. 

 

Main Course: Dish of the day

In the 60s a woman might be described as 'a real dish' - probably wasn't much different back in the time of - ever! Helen is posh totty. Paeans of praise in her favour provided much needed light relief - sweet; a little something whipped up & served on a bed of supporting admirers with an ample garnish of long tresses & adulation (Tournay again - falsetto!). Just her name is enough to create a stir. Helen/Zoe holds the pose & plays hot pin-up. unattainable, yet, ahem, filched. Agamemnon's mission - to steal her back: woman as prized commodity as usual. each scene flows smoothly on.

 

 You say tomatoes....

Sorbet-moments; sweet contrasts. Champagne bubbles - or fizzy cava. There'll always be cheap knock-offs: lookey-likey almost but-not-quite-the-real-deal, but if you need to fill the gap that money or power can't supply... Helen's 'Vogue' & is supported, literally, on the backs of her people (cast members as chaise-longue); Clytemnestra's more 'Hallo! Magazine'. More, cut-price, off-the-peg, a little bit past her sell-by date, if Agamemnon's anything to go by. Left for 10 years? Hmmm - that doesn't usually go down well. Desire can't be switched off; unfortunately the replacement has his own agenda, that old chesnut: revenge. Aegisthus steps in when Agamemnon steps out. Who he? Well, he was the son of Thyestes, you know, the guy made to eat his own babies served up by Clytemnestra's husband. Ooops! Aegisthus's  interest is not just in pussy, but making of her a willing cat's paw - for his own ends. 

A bad case of wind

Caraway seeds are the traditional way; the stuff baby's gripe water is made of; why they're added when cooking cabbage. But, different courses for Trojan horses, Agamemnon much preferred sacrificing his daughter to the Goddess Artemis to get the right kind of wind for his ships. Ambition, victory, power, military gain at any price. Bitter reflux. Again.

 

Making a meal of it: War

Every day - a battle: between the sexes; between territories; opposing gains/losses yada yada. Everyone dressed for battle as a matter of course, in combats/ battle fatigues, emphasis on fatigue. The War Correspondent / Greek Chorus, George Jasper Kelly, did a great job as Shakespearean style clown-commentator: imagine Lee Evens giving a blow by blow account of proceedings on the battle field. Indeed.

 

The Bill: Final Reckoning

The cost of it all - human lives lost. Dignity lost. Short-term gains. Lost hope. What actually is worth fighting for when it comes down to it? Steven Berkoff has said he wrote this play to 'exorcise certain demons struggling within me to escape.' Those demons might be the curse of cultural programming passed down from generation to generation, or the lust for greater power, prestige, respect. Sexual appetite, or the hunger for attention, affection, love that can't be fully satisfied. Left unchecked the result is a bloodbath. Who picks up the tab? Who pays the price. Gratuities aren't enough. Someone must  pay. Tall order. Great service!

 

Satisfaction guaranteed

Truth is things can be very simple if you really boil it down. Head Chef Tanushka Marah should feel rightly proud of the production her so solid crew presented at Brighton Fringe Festival 2017. Not the most appetising of subjects to tackle & surely difficult to prepare, but served with great relish.  So much was achieved with the most minimal props: white sheet; long red cloth & not much else: very neatly wrapping up Iphegenia's being bound by her father's trade-off with deft use of said sheet. Excellent use of music, mime, lighting & evident passion: Clytemnestra's tears - real, not fake. The death of Cassandra at the end was a tour de force of staging: suitably shocking & dramatic. I was happy to learn  the cast were so hyped with the play they're reading Steven Berkoff's other works in their own time. All aged between 17-21 they attend regular after-school drama classes as part of Windmill Young Actors; Morwenna since the age of 8. A good team: all highly talented & dedicated. I look forward to anything else they might do in future. 

 

Look out for:

 

Helen of Troy: Zoe Alexander

Agamemnon: Jonny Davidson

Chorus: Sarah Elliott 

Herald: George Jasper Kelly

Iphegenia: Phoebe Owen

Cassandra: Cerys Salkeld-Green

Clytemnestra: Morwenna Silver

Aegisthus: Henry Touray

 

 and: Tanushka Marah

 

http://windmillyoungactors.com/

 



SCULPTING FEAR: HETZEL'S APOCALYPTIC VISION

Sculpting Fear: Julian Hetzel - at The Old Market, Hove, Produced by SPRING Performing Arts Festival Utrecht & Co-produced by South East Dance and Quadrennial Prague, 11th November 2015.

The Forecast:

There are dark days ahead. The black-and-white chequerboard certainties of life will be reduced to monochrome Grey. The workplace will become yet another arena where we 'live together apart' under the familiar, yet more pervasive, poisonous cloud of 'office politics': still pushed around by others; going round in circles; competing; 'wheeling-and-dealing', yet never really relating to each other. Speech will become obsolete: screen-based lives mean words can be created at arm's length on any device (why talk?). Chairs will be extensions of ourselves: we'll have closer relationships with them than with others. 

 

 

Roomba for Development

 

Witness a curious evolutionary twist: while we humans cease to relate to others, being unable to weather the storms and passions of normal relationships, having been  dehumanised by the apparent safety of anonymity, becoming evermore remote, yet controlled by bosses; schedules, and the need to emotionally shut-down; the remote-controlled devices we create will learn to speak; to dialogue with one another, and care for each other's welfare under the guidance of The Over-Voice (God? The outer manifestation of our 'inner voice?).

Roomba with a View

I was struck throughout the performance by the enactment of certain English idioms. I was able to ask Julian whether he'd ever heard the phrase I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole? No, and yet this had been powerfully demonstrated by the human cleaner who employed a screen, and long metal pole when 'handling' fellow workers, in contrast to the kindly, solicitous cleaning-machines. Daily grind; being blown away; and relationships that are stormy, and tumultuous were also unknown to him, and yet intuitively accessed.
 

 

Climate of Change

 

Practiced detachment wreaks havoc. Lack of warm connection with ourselves, each other, and our environment can only end in disaster. Computers and economies crash. A yoga pose in the midst of catastrophe is too little, too late; and woefully inadequate. A digital network is not a support network. We will undertake necessary repair work, after the inevitable impending disaster, alone - remote from each other. We live the mess we create.

 

 

Taken by Storm

 

Hetzel's latest work is a tour de force. A grim tale told with illuminating flashes of humour: the Roombas talking: 'breathe in; breathe out; inhale, exhale; email, Excel'. The great plume of smoke as though God Himself was taking a cigarette break, where the machines listen to The Voice and heed it's advice, while the humans create a world of destruction. A lot can be achieved with little: 3 performers; 3 office chairs; polystyrene floor tiles; a wall of electric fans, and many more in the audience. Bravo!

Can You Tell What It Is Yet?...Michael Clark: Animal / Vegetable / Mineral

ANIMAL / VEGETABLE / MINERAL      

Show & Tell

 

The clue had to be right there in the title of Michael Clark's latest dance production at the Brighton Dome Wednesday 11th March, harking back to the hugely popular long-running TV & radio show, otherwise known as '20 Questions' - a game of deduction with 3 categories: Animal (alive); Vegetable (growing); mineral (not alive, doesn't grow & comes from the ground) being the only clue given to the panel at the start of each round where the word  must be correctly arrived at through a filter of questions. The audience, however, are privy to 'the mystery voice' announcing, for them only, the word to be identified. In this context a single spotlight was focused on a performer down on the auditorium floor - the visual equivalent of an aside - before the performance / game began. In keeping with the general cluelessness at the start of the process we had very little to go on, unable at this stage to even guess at gender: dancers looked identical. The music too gave little away, sweet and level in tone for several tracks.



          Clues EveryWhichWay

With each question asked, or dance performed, a little more is revealed. It's possible, however, to think you know the answer, only to discover you've been on the wrong tack entirely. Clue succeeds clue: the dots still need to be connected. If for any reason you miss the word given at the start, it can be hard work getting clued up, but the false leads and misinterpretations are part of the fun of the game. Everything is a possible clue & this worked so well with lighting by Charles Atlas; costumes by Stevie Stewart, and music by Relaxed Muscle; Scritti Pollitti; The Sex Pistols; Pulp & others; plus little details, like 'drawing' (in a lyric) mirrored by the action of a dancer's leg (delightful!); and hand signals that showed: Pointing (indication / selection); Beckoning; Negation / Denial. All clues! With a lot of backtracking in the 4th piece: dancers reversing before advancing: recapping: eliminating dead leads, making new connections like professors & clerics (hands held behind the back). 

Cut to the End

'You can find a station with talking...' went the line of a lyric (dancers as radio tuning dial, and listener). Words should make things, but not always. Think of the scope for misinterpretation due to the absence of tone/ expression when texting which, like tofu, takes on the flavour of the recipient's state of mind. Text appeared on the back screen: disordered, back-to-front, random, sequential, breaking up. We seek to connect; search for meaning, look for signs & signals; tune in to wavelengths & good reception in the human zoo of life, where we're  all performers of one kind or another. The costumes signalled significant developments along the way, from homogenous genderlessness to greater definition: 3 disparate colours up-front, shadow element behind, to a final glorious burst of orange. If the Oscars in the Oscar-making factory could party, they'd look like this, I found myself thinking; with just a hint of Clockwork Orange in dancer-as-chair pose. The audience was dazzled by mirror-spotlights: we were all in it together.

 

Mass media; mass production, and all-in-all a massive success, although there were times we were completely in the dark; but then - That's Animal / Vegetable / Mineral for you!

 

Good game! Good game! We all came out Winners - Thanks to the Michael Clark Company.

SCULPTING FEAR: JULIAN HETZEL

I was fortunate to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Julian Hetzels latest work-in-progress: a 'Sharing' of thoughts and ideas, with an invited audience, to give shape to the mass of possibilities characteristic of early-stage work. Even with the best of plans Art; Life; Relationships; the Weather – all find their own form, and are subject to...well, who knows! Often we try to use the past to predict the future – there's always the need to pin the future down – sometimes at the expense of the present. As we made our way along the corridor to the dance studio we came across a man lying on the floor. Collapsed? Unconscious? Drunk? It was unexpected. Questions were immediately triggered; a response required. What was one's responsibility? How was the situation to be assessed, or dealt with? We were assured all was in hand, so continued to make our way to....

Enlightenment in the Dance Studio

We had just witnessed the 1^st Enlightenment: the interactive element of Sculpting Fear the very title of which encompasses the tension of opposing forces. Fear: the stuff of rapid heartbeats; sweat (hot or cold); the jellification of limbs, fluid; in flux; changeable; hard to capture or fully define, yet the desire here is to confront uncertainty using questions and responses to create meaning around the unknowable, and in this way sculpt the materiality of fear. To be open to observe all the permutations of the situation; our responses, and that of others, all of which, like clouds, are constantly subject to change. 

When we step out of the accepted predictability of our own domains we expect a certain amount of predicatability in the everydayness of what's out there. But, what are we to make of one body found lying down in the street? One cloud in the sky is a clear day; several clouds might signify an impending storm. Would a series of bodies imply an epidemic? A trail of victims? If the body was of a policeman / sex worker / senior citizen – would our attitudes be any different? Is there a hierachy of caring? How much are we influenced by what we 'read' into the situation? What do we make (sculpt?) out of clothing? Status? Age? Race? This is what Julian would like (us) to find out.....

RUN – HIDE - TELL

Now for the 2^nd Enlightenment: the unpredictable Dance of Life. Each of us saw the same thing unfold, but what did we see exactly? Air being blown into a canopy of black plastic against a hum of ambient sound, yes, but Anaias Nin said: We dont see things as they are, we see things as we are'. Now a world of possibilities opens up; now we might see a tired stormcloud; a struggling soul reluctant to leave this earth; a cancerous lung, or womb; apprehension. It appears there are people 'under the covers'. What are they hiding from?

Here Julian has 'caught them redhanded'.

As it was in the beginning....

From the darkness of the womb; to the darkness of earth: the cycle of life turns; we end as we begin. We had talked of unpredictability; uncertainty, the unknown; of questions and projections; technology; symbology, community; the apocalypse, and psychopolitics; of unrest, and tempests. It was time to wrap the evening up; wrap ourselves up, and head for home.

I had entered the building with others, but left the studio on my own, emerging from the lift in a place I didn't recognize: disorientated, a little panicked: feeling trapped. I heard voices behind closed doors – another studio. I popped my head in and, shamefaced, asked for directions. The exit was just to my left, leading into a sidestreet, not the way I'd come. I was apprehensive. Shady figures shifted in the background, bodies settling under a concrete staircase. And this chap - laid back in his hi-visibility jacket shielding his eyes from the light; under the watchful eye of his guardian angel. 

Or, was there some other story? Hmmmm....