Posted by Emilie Gale, 28/06/10 | 0 Comments
And how was the first week?
Here we are at the start of the second week of LIFT 2010 –there’s lots of great stuff coming up over the next 7 days – Rimini Protokoll’s Best Before takes up residence at the ICA, allowing the audience to become part of the performance by each controlling their own avatar to form part of the story; We Built This City arrives from Australia as Polyglot Theatre help London’s young architects to build their own cardboard community at the National Theatre; Nalaga’at – the world’s only professional deafblind theatre company bring their unique and moving production Not by Bread Alone to North London’s artsdepot for two weeks from Sunday; and performances continue for artist Dries Verhoeven’s stunning show Life Streaming in our pop-up internet café on Riverside Walk at the National Theatre.
And how was the first week?
From sold-out performances of Life Streaming to 4 star reviews for Back to Back Theatre’s Food Court, Revolutionary behaviour, guitars and vodka courtesy of Gob Squad to an exploration of digital media in performance chaired by LIFT’s Mark Ball, lives enhanced and divided by communication in Continuous City to site specific theatre at London’s most famous boxing gym, all topped off with drinks, dancing and discussion at the LIFT Club at the ICA, it’s been a busy week here at LIFT 2010.
Missed a performance you really wanted to see? Here’s just some of the highlights from the first days of this year’s LIFT Festival.
Life Streaming, Dries Verhoeven
What a perfect start to LIFT 2010 – the sun is streaming down on Riverside Walk, the stretch of the South Bank that runs along the front of the National Theatre, where an internet café appears to have sprung up almost over night. Divested of all our possessions, we make our way to our computer terminals and begin a dialogue with someone over 8000km away. In the course of our conversation, Athila tells me hopes to be a doctor someday, loves the beach, and asks me about my life. From prologue to epilogue, the performance seamlessly combines a fixed script with a fluid conversation to lead the plot of the piece in unexpected and moving directions. As it is running for a second week I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you too much about it, I will simply say that it should be seen, and that you should hurry as it’s mostly sold out! Book tickets now here. https://ticketing.nationaltheatre.org.uk/production.aspx?performanceNumber=14609
Food Court, Back to Back Theatre
What can I say about Food Court? Perhaps it is easiest to start by quoting from Dominic Maxwell’s four star review in The Times “It goes from slow, puzzling beginnings to something sublime. Or, rather, to something ugly, unsettling and sublime. Tremendous.”
Food Court does not set out to be easy. It does not set out to be pleasant, or comfortable. It sets out to challenge our perceptions, to provoke thought and comment and to confront our attitudes to disability.
Two women set out to bully a third. They abuse her, humiliate her, brutalise her, and leave her for dead. Brutal, cruel, and although perhaps not to such extreme lengths, a common occurrence in our society. So what makes Food Court different? The victim is physically and intellectually disabled. Two women torture a disabled women. Still cruel and brutal, but perhaps not such a societal norm. But her aggressors are also disabled. Does this make the act more horrific? More acceptable, or easier to understand? And throughout the production they play on the levels of their disability to challenge to the audience’s preconceived notions. Much like Channel Four’s Cast Offs last year, Food Court seeks to dispel the myths surrounding disability and although this doesn’t necessarily make for relaxing viewing, it has a powerful impact. Accompanied by an improvised score from Australian jazz trio The Necks, and a strange and haunting set of blurred dreamscape like projections, this production has you thinking about it long after the final curtain call.
Gob Squad
Let me start by setting the scene – a couple stroll along the Mall. Perhaps on their way home from work, or sightseeing. They come across a strange wooden box with a TV screen on it. As they step into vision, on the screen 120 people scream. They wave flags. They play guitars. For this is the the revolution, and it’s happening now! Gob Squad’s Revolution Now! sets out to change the world. We aren’t sure exactly how, or what to, but the time for change is now, and all 120 of us are locked in the theatre until the mission is accomplished. There are sequins. There is music. There is vodka. The way to bring about this Revolution, it is decided, is to take our (unspecified) message to the people. So as we wait in the theatre, two of the intrepid revolutionaries go forth to spread the word. For the next hour, we will the unsuspecting passers by – “the People” – to join us.
“The People do not speak English”, our disappointed revolutionaries tell us on stopping an amiable but bewildered Japanese tourist. “The People have to go catch a train” (or a bus – this seems to be a recurring theme!). And just when we all begin to give up hope – “The People’s name is Tim, and he is one of us!” Tim, coincidentally, turns out to be Tim Crouch, the playwright and performer, so it is hardly surprising he is a more than willing revolutionary…. but nonetheless, we have the support of the People – we’ve DONE IT! The Revolution ends as it began – with singing, vodka, and of course a large, glittery flag. Vive la revolution!