' I think, that if I touched the earth,
It would crumble;
It is so sad and beautiful,
So tremulously like a dream.'



24/03/2013

CULTURE: Rogues’ Galleries ~ Storyville

Rogues’ Galleries Storyville: Exploring the art in life’s artefacts
Whilst wandering along Chester’s high street and historic Rows, one passes an alarming and ever-growing number of vacant premises, despite its long-time renown as a ‘shopping city.’ In its on-going efforts to revive the areas failing cultural aspects, local arts producers Chester Performs recently commissioned The Rogues’ Galleries, a whole host of art installations, workshops and projects to breathe life into said empty sites and turn the notion of shopping on its head.

                Two such creative rogues, collaborative performance artists Katherina Radeva and Alister Lownie, have decided to set up their living room on the upper floor of a venue on Watergate Row in a piece they have named Storyville. Visitors are encouraged to come and peruse the motley collection of a lifetime’s bric-a-brac: ribbons and buttons, an ironing board, love letters, paintings, theatre props, boots, books, keys, clothes… And amid it all lays a couch, on which the duo invite you to sit for a cup of tea and a natter. They are so warm and charming that their infectious chattiness and contemplative air soon have you sharing, and reflecting on, snapshots of your own life’s history.
During my time there, I found myself discussing the surprising violence of water polo one moment and examining the ghostly images from a brain scan the next. Other visitors came and went, and I found it such a refreshing and novel experience to be able to chat with perfect strangers as they shared their own stories or showed off the spoils of a day’s shopping.
Katherina Radeva and Alister Lownie sit amid their relocated belongings at
 Storyville, their most recent artistic endeavour.

             What makes the whole thing even more fascinating is that every item in the room is for sale. The fact that that the performers are sacrificing their personal belongings and keepsakes highlights the whole purpose of the installation: to have us, and indeed themselves, question how and why we apply value to things; not merely monetarily, but emotionally. The significance we apply to an object, the moment in time it encapsulates, how the look or touch of something makes us feel, how we value the lives and experiences of others and ourselves. Kat and Alistair were also particularly keen to find out what the future has in store for each once cherished item: who is it for? How will it be used? What will it mean to the individual?
           For my own part, I was drawn to the intriguing miniature of a woman made of wire and painted plaster that I discovered whilst rummaging through Kat’s sewing box. She seemed delighted that I had found it and carried on digging around until she had produced several other such figures. She revealed to me how she had once designed and made the costumes/set for a dance piece in London and that these had been the 1:50 ratio scale models she had used in the process. The naïve charm and stylised form of each little figure along with the memories and pride that each contained won my heart and I bought them on the spot.
           And what will their future hold? They’ve got pride of place on my bookshelf to bring a smile to my face and remind me of an enjoyable and unexpected hour I once spent in the company of two delightful people whose humble art piece made such a powerful and lasting impression on me.


Far Left/tight: The dancers of theatrical dance piece Daffodils (2005, stood in Radeva's costume creations.
Centre: The tiny figurines used in the design process for the same performance
 Katherina Radeva and Alister Lownie of Two Destination Language create performance works which focus on identity and community. Their work includes theatre shows, interactive installations, one-on-one works and fun participatory projects. Their work has been presented in venues across the UK and internationally. http://www.twodestinationlanguage.com/
For more information on the Rogues' Galleries, visit http://www.roguesgalleries.co.uk/

10/03/2013

THEATRE: EQUUS, 2013 ~ Review


Equus proves to be a one-horse race

Tip Top Productions’ five-night performance (5th-9th March, 2013) of Peter Shaffer’s classic play Equus, led by innovative guest director John Young at the Forum Theatre Chester,  goes to show that though Shaffer claimed ‘life is only comprehensible through a thousand local gods’, all you actually seem to need is a handful of local talent.

          The play focuses on psychiatrist Martin Dysart as he deals with Alan Strang, a reserved seventeen year-old who has committed a horrible and seemingly senseless act of violence against several horses. As treatment progresses and Alan’s motives and desires unfold, Dysart starts to find himself questioning his own inhibitions…

The production opens with a silent, bare-chested figure slowly entering into view to place nothing but a mask upon his head in order to portray the fundamental essence of a horse. This, in many ways, epitomises the nature of Young’s interpretation of the play as a whole: stripped back to its raw and most potent elements. Subtly reminiscent of the archetypal masks of Greek Theatre, the abstract simplicity of the headgear’s design echoes the drawing style of Jean Cocteau, renowned for his obsession with the myths of Classical Greece - myths that, like Shaffer’s play, lay bare the truths of the human psyche.

The set does much to channel the themes of the play: a raised wooden dais to evoke the idea of a stable and reiterate the significance and authority of Shaffer’s curious horse god, Equus, the embodiment of worship, forever stamping his hoof to make himself known; an arch framed on either side by bars, through which audience and actors alike enter and exit the venue, to evoke horse stalls and allude to the playwright’s notions of freedom versus imprisonment through society’s accepted norms.

Versatile and carefully employed lighting brings great depth to the piece. At one moment, it offers a subdued fragility to the sex scene (and ensures the nakedness of the actors is tastefully done, without taking away from the strikingness of the image); the next, it imbues the confrontation between Alan and Equus with real menace as a hellish red glare cast up from below merges with smoke that rises suddenly to circle about the actors.

Local thoroughbreds: the cast of Tip Top Productions' Equus
                Though amateur, the actors’ performances remained mostly strong and poignant throughout, and the choreography was always captivating and effective, particularly with its clever use of different levels and heights to tackle the venue’s limited space and ensure the piece is visually stimulating even when the actors aren’t moving.

A bold and thoroughly thought-provoking production, it promises great things from director Young in the near future.

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