News, analysis and comment - performing arts |
I seem to recall that GCSE English involved a lot of identikit essays about the ‘message’ in various novels, plays and poems. For quite some time I was under the impression that writing involved hiding a needle of purest message in a haystack of plot and character and the more debate over the meaning, the better the book.
Nic Green’s stirring and very moving Trilogy, at the Barbican last weekend, wears its message firmly on its often naked sleeve. The three parts seek to rescue and rehabilitate the feminist cause from the ruins of an age in which pole dancing is considered to be ‘empowering’ and grown women covet the shape of the hips of a skinny 12 year-old boy. An ambitious undertaking in just 160 minutes but one which somehow succeeds. Go to www.makeyourownherstory.org and you will see what I mean.
It is difficult to classify Trilogy in GCSE terms. It is not a work of fiction as such but neither is it polemic or docudrama. It is an artistic response to deeply felt social injustice which entirely avoids sanctimonious preaching and erecting a yurt on the moral high ground.
Nakedness, as supposed to nudity, is important in this piece and it is surprising how swiftly the taboo of watching a stranger undress evaporates. This may be because all five performers seem so comfortable ‘in their own skins’ or it may be the fascinating experience of watching the human body dance without the fetters of costume. Nic Green and the excellent Laura Bradshaw whirl and stomp through grueling routines with a mesmerizing, energetic grace. These dances are interspersed with anecdotes and ideas from Green’s own life and the ways in which these experiences provoked the performance on stage.
The first part of Trilogy involves a spectacular communal, naked dance in which a crowd of women volunteers of all shapes and sizes crowd onto the Barbican’s huge stage in such numbers that they seem likely to spill into the delighted audience. The second part is a deconstruction of Town Bloody Hall: a famous feminist debate from 1971 involving, among others, Norman Mailer and Germaine Greer.
The final section is a reprise and consolidation of ideas previously explored, a brief manifesto and a meditation on Blake’s Jerusalem culminating in a naked singing of the hymn where women (from the audience this time) join the cast on stage. If you get the chance, go and see it: if you’re a man you’ll wish you weren’t so you can join in.
It would be amazing to see it on a GCSE syllabus.
David Trennery studied English and Drama at Nottingham University, Theatre Directing at Drama Studio, and has worked on a variety of fringe productions in London and Edinburgh and the odd film.
E: editor@artshub.co.ukArtsHub (United Kingdom) 1 Sep 2010
BLITHE SPIRIT: opened in 1941 when it played for over 2,000 performances. It has been one of the ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 1 Sep 2010
PEDAL POWER: This fast-moving play looks at 100 years of cycling history as Mikron’s team of four ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 31 Aug 2010
PHEDRE: A recorded screening of the complete performance, live from the National Theatre, London. ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 31 Aug 2010
SURROUND ME: The experience of the City at the weekend returns the pedestrian to the human scale ...
David Trennery (United Kingdom) 30 Aug 2010
OLIVIER THEATRE: Toby Stephens is at his imperious best as the swaggering, eponymous hero while ...
David Trennery (United Kingdom) 30 Aug 2010
REGENTS PARK: A musical amalgamation of fairy tale characters in which Red Riding Hood encounters ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 29 Aug 2010
SWAN LAKE: Collecting over 30 international theatre awards including three Tonys, ‘Swan Lake’ has ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 25 Aug 2010
STEREOPHONICS: “To celebrate the reissue of our first two albums we will be playing two nights at ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 25 Aug 2010
EVITA: With more than 20 major awards to its credit, including the Oscar winning motion picture ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 24 Aug 2010
A FEAST OF FUNK AND FUSION: featuring Europe’s foremost Latin pianist, Neil Angilley, Canadian ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 18 Aug 2010
DERBY TOURISM: Already recognised as one of the most spectacular weekend festivals of its kind in ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 18 Aug 2010
MARTINI LOUNGE: Kitten De Ville and Dirty Martini fly in to join Millie Dollar for a night of ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 18 Aug 2010
SQUARE CHAPEL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS: The songs and wonderful voice of one of Britain’s most gifted ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 17 Aug 2010
PRS FOR MUSIC FOUNDATION: Five finalists are in the running to win the New Music Award 2010, and ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 16 Aug 2010
IUGTE: "Performing Arts Training Today" is inviting participants, to a spectacular seminar in ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 12 Aug 2010
SQUARE QUAPEL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS: Calderdale Theatre School rehearse and perform a play in 24 ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 12 Aug 2010
SQUARE CHAPEL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS: A play on the life of Martha Crossley comes to Halifax ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 12 Aug 2010
LINCOLN ART PROGRAMME: Search Party Vs Lincoln is a three day durational two handed performance ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 12 Aug 2010
THE MERCURY THEATRE: This autumn the Mercury Theatre has once again teamed up with one of the ...
ArtsHub (United Kingdom) 11 Aug 2010
OVAL HOUSE: Ben Evans leaves Oval House Theatre after 5 ½ years as Director of Theatre.