Incubator 2011 at Wales Millenium Centre

Wales Millennium Centre presented their very successful Incubator project Thursday last week. The project aims to assist Welsh artists and companies cultivate new work, providing an empty creative space to try things out.

The audience play a key part in the project, as the work in progress is presented to them over a single night and any feedback the audience feel they would like to give after is conveyed through the informal meet up after or posted on boards outside the Weston Studio. Each piece is roughly no more than 30/40 minutes.

Notional Theatre were first up with their piece Awkward Turtle Flips the bird. Unconventionally, the audience was asked to move onto the stage area, surrounded by a projection screen and smaller TV’s. Slang language, notably gestural slang is the hot topic here and as a slag lexicographer, Notional’s Artistic Director is in familiar territory with his ideas. Gestural slang can speak for itself and almost fully devoid of cast dialogue the piece accentuated that. The dialogue came from a voice over reading dictionary definitions for slang and related terminology. Using gestural slang as their performance language was very effective, particularly with the choreographed expressive movement although splitting concentration and attention between the voice over and the cast did at times become difficult as you interacted with the movements. Over all Awkward Turtle flips the Bird is an innovative piece that should do well as it progresses.

Seeing 3D Theatre Company again was a nice surprise, they performed a short piece at the NRTF conference in July, at Incubator they were armed with a slightly different arsenal. Wyneb Dros Dro (or Temporary Road Surface) is a Welsh language play exploring family tensions at Christmas and the disasters that can ensue. Marian has a surprise for the family, not only is there a new man in her life Dyl and Rhian discover he is much younger than her. Following the Welsh language was difficult at times as my Welsh language skills are far from comprehensive, yet the sign of a good piece is that the gist of the content came through with the cast’s performance. Done script in hand the cast were at times reliant on the papers in front of them and I recognise as a developmental piece script in hand can be useful dependant on the stage of creativity.

Moving into a new space at the WMC, Crashmat Theatre Collective sat the audience around restaurant tables. The collective investigated experimental live performance and original concepts, the piece Super Pseudo uses circus and theatre conventions in a bid to create something original and present an exploration of the private and public faces of a workforce. Circus equipment was strategically placed for the brilliantly choreographed cast to use in performance. As each act performed they were seamlessly paralleled with the voice over narrative i.e. that character’s personal thoughts. The interaction between cast and audience blurred the traditional relationship, bringing it much closer. The company’s investigation is to continue, developing the piece into a full dining experience.

Lastly, Jessie Brett’s piece Woolgatherer took the audience down into a seating area in WMC’s front hall. Gathered in a circle Jessie was not immediately discernable to the audience: blending in quite perfectly before she broke into movement and graduating to dance routines using a range of music. Created as a solo piece, it would be perfect in festivals or busy areas like London’s Covent Garden or Edinburgh during the Fringe. Jessie brought the audience into the moment, even giving the idea that there was a narrative behind her presence.

This year’s incubator was varied and extraordinarily creative and I do hope the audience gave the excellent feedback the companies deserve, in order to take their performances forward in the development process. Good luck to all four and long may this test bed of creativity in Welsh arts be successful!

The Village Social - NTW's Year 2 Opener!

The Village Social at Neath Little Theatre.  26th October 2011

(Photo's by me)

You remember them don’t you? Those fundraisers, 18^th birthdays, cake sales and Christmas concerts, all played out in those unassuming Village Halls, Community Centres and Workman’s Halls. National Theatre Wales does well to build on a concept familiar to all, yet now rarely encountered in reality. The Village Social is its name and it brings us Cae Bach: a place where the darkest corners of life descend on unsuspecting folk in a bizarre mix of music blood and laughter.

The production is a clever mix of part theatre, part social experiment: bringing convention crashing down in fabulous NTW fashion, where moments of total seriousness walk hand in hand with complete absurdity. The woodcraft folk are a group of teenagers led by an apparently normal, quiet boy and are there to do things other than “...drink white lightening and getting Asbo’s” , they proceed to sing a song full of innocence and the language of the deepest of dark winters. Then there are the five legends of Cae Bach...... from Cernuous the horned god of Celtic legend to a little girl who danced to death in the 19^th Century and the lovers Arthur and Anwen Mair.

Having bought refreshments and raffle tickets the audience settle down and are introduced to the five community council members presenting the show, who bluster and bicker as the Clairvoyant (the night’s main entertainment) fails to arrive on time. It is here where the “after unfortunate events” hints are dropped, in the flustered bursts of 27 cat’s dead and 3^rd oldest Yew tree in Britain burnt to the ground. The five legends are told in relative detail, each cast member acting them out, almost if the legends are their own.  

Upon arrive Madame Isis fits the bill of an old, phoney clairvoyant that twists and steals words as they tumble out. With subtle innuendoes of “can anyone do a Roger?” and “I can do a Roger” to inciting full blown fear that sends poor Jean (the Health and Safety officer) scuttling out for dear life with a spear fashioned from the legend of the Silurian tribe.

Madame Isis’ mysterious vanishing act turns the tide as Jean returns on her motorised scooter bedecked in blood and a dog’s head, frightening poor Yvonne and Dave. One by one the madness descends as irrational impulses take over and each character turns into the legend they represented.

As the tale progressed the hilarity and absurdity is in stark contrast to Dion’s story, the little boy who lost his mother ten years earlier, to her own darkness. The balance between both narrative strands often wobbled precariously: the laughter ensuing from the depravity took over against the heart-breaking despair of grief and loss. I wanted more of the emotional catharsis.

Yet Dafydd James own description of Village Social as “[an investigation into the visceral relationships between the human and the animal and a return to animalistic behaviour]” is utterly spot on. Beneath the quietest or most respectable exterior will lurk the most curious of impulses and that sometimes it is necessary to let them loose. Just maybe not in public.......

For its slight imperfections The Village Social was still the wickedly funny return to the primitive that I expected it to be this autumn. It is great to see NTW returning to local Welsh venues as it did in Year 1.

Runs: 20^th October - 12^th November.