Rethinking Performance: A Year of Lockdown Theatre
A new year is a time both to reflect and to look forward. This past year in theatre hasn’t been what anyone expected with theatres dark and likely to stay dark for the coming months. However, as Ben and I have noted over the last few months, digital performance has emerged to fill the cultural void and address the need for theatre. While this blog has focussed largely on Shakespeare, we have through our personal Twitter accounts been ‘hot take’ reviewing a wide range of this emerging performance medium. Here are few of my highlights of 2020…
CtrlAlt_Repeat
No stranger to this blog — under artistic director Sid Phoenix, this formed in and out of lockdown theatre company was one of the early movers in digital theatre. Their rather excellent Midsummer Night Stream back in April was the first Lockdown Shakespeare production we reviewed. This set the bar high, offering a 2020 lockdown retelling of the much-loved Shakespeare comedy. Streaming for free on YouTube, CtrlAlt_Repeat’s productions of The Importance of BCC’ing Ernest and As You Like It (reviewed by Ben) are still available to watch.
However, where this company has excelled is in making the jump from free-to-view to a pay-per-view model with two immersive interactive productions. Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Symmetric Mailshot (an original story written by Phoenix based on the Arthur Conan Doyle books) took the form of a traditional whodunnit with the audience tasked with interviewing suspects, and analysing evidence. The follow-up, Viper Squad — an original concept developed and written by company member James Dillon — took audience members to 1988. In what the company describe as ‘a love letter to the action movies of the 1980s’,¹ the audience were recruited to the elite Viper Squad team to play the action hero.
With a bank heist underway, the new recruits negotiated with hostage takers, reviewed the evidence to identify the main suspects and worked out riddles and puzzles to defuse bombs. The joy of this experienced immersive theatre team is that they carry you along with them — I’m a natural introvert, yet in the world of Viper Squad I happily stepped out of my comfort zone and took control. CtrlAlt_Repeat have an infectious energy and spending a couple of hours in their company on a Zoom call (or, to be more accurate, Viper Squad’s proprietary ‘Zero Oversight Optimal Messaging’ system) is the ultimate escapist fun… I dressed up in my ‘80s finest, made cocktails with #TinyLittleUmbrellas and had an ‘80s dance party in my own home. I confess, I may have visited 1988 five times — however, with different story arcs and audience involvement, no two experiences were the same and, honestly, I’d go back again in a heartbeat (well, once I’d got the Babycham in!).
Jury Games
Set up by Tom Black (also involved in both CtrlAlt_Repeat and Parabolic Theatre, discussed below), Joe Ball and Exit Productions, Jury Games is a company that creates experiences, probably best described as a hybrid of immersive theatre and an escape room. Their two lockdown productions, Jury Duty and The Inquest, are the most involved, intense lockdown theatre productions I have experienced. The premise is simple — due to the pandemic, court business has moved online and the audience act in place of the jury or a remote inquest team. Working with fellow participants, the audience are tasked with working through evidence, interviewing witnesses and ultimately voting to determine the outcome of the case. Minimally cast, both productions have been driven by a two character format, with one actor in an overseer role offering guidance and a second in a witness or suspect role to be interrogated. Where this company excels is in the detail: witness statements, photographs, police interview transcripts, all backed up by characters’ Facebook pages and LinkedIn accounts.
As with real life investigations nothing is simple — with an instruction to have your phone on and a recommendation to have a second device to hand, this was a multi-screen experience. Audience members received illicit phone calls and emails attempting to either subvert or redirect attention, and you were never sure who to trust. But, you had to work with your fellow audience members to make sure you unearthed all the evidence. It was an intense couple of hours but well worth it. The company offer private bookings, so if you are looking for a lockdown social or corporate team building experience, I highly recommend you contact them!
Parabolic Theatre
In early December, I had the pleasure of taking part in the pilot version of Parabolic’s We Have a Situation in possibly one of the most ambitious projects I’ve experienced — two Zoom theatre productions took place simultaneously, each influencing the other. Audience members joined either the North Mazeppan Republic or the South Mazeppan Commonwealth — I did each version on consecutive nights — for ‘Mazeppa Day’ celebrations. However, a terrorist group is attempting to seize control of both sides of the island. Participants took control of the situation room and attempted to resolve the crisis, working with/against their counterparts in either the capitalist South or post-Soviet North. I found myself writing speeches for my fellow participants to live stream onto YouTube; others were interviewed live on the evening news or attended negotiation summits between the North and South. Audience controlled, the production has the beauty of never playing out in quite the same way twice. As with Viper Squad (the production features David Alwyn, Rachel Waring and Tom Black from CtrlAlt_Repeat) the company are skilled at guiding audience members though the experience, and I was never left feeling lost or unsupported. The production is due to return in the spring, and I’m excited to see how it has developed!
The Old Vic
If immersive theatre isn’t your thing… the Old Vic has your back! Of the ‘big players’, the Old Vic have been the most active staging a number of live streamed productions throughout lockdown. Starting with Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs starring Matt Smith and Claire Foy in June/July, the theatre’s In Camera series offers ticketed mainstream live theatre directly into audience’s homes via a Zoom webinar. Directed for this format and with socially distanced (rather than bubbled) actors, the productions have a distinctive feel with multiple camera angles and split screen creating illusions of togetherness and, counterintuitively, distance between actors.
This motif was exploited beautifully in Three Kings, a new play by Stephen Beresford written for and performed by Andrew Scott. As Scott’s monologue introduced and parroted various characters, split screen allowed both action and reaction, simultaneously exploiting Scott’s command of TV and film acting. Brian Friel’s Faith Healer with Michael Sheen, Indira Varma and David Threlfall was more theatrical in its approach, with the introduction of both sets and costume acting — perhaps as a test of concept for the exceptional A Christmas Carol with Andrew Lincoln as Scrooge in the Old Vic’s now-standard annual Jack Thorne adaptation. I thoroughly enjoyed A Christmas Carol, the full cast production showing what is possible with social distancing and clever staging. I admit to wishing at times that the filming had been in wider shot to give a sense of actors on stage rather than the Old Vic’s In Camera default of close crops and split screen. It was a little disorientating at times to see an actor’s hand or shoulder slip into another actor’s Zoom box.
Both Lungs and Faith Healer are available to watch for a limited number of streaming dates in January as Old Vic In Camera: Playback productions.
Creation Theatre/Big Telly
We have covered Creation Theatre’s The Tempest, Horatio! (and Hamlet) and The Merry Wives of WhatsApp, and Big Telly’s Macbeth here — however, both companies have been prolific in lockdown with adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, The Machine Stops, The Time Machine, Henry VIII and Operation Elsewhere between them. Consistently creative and dedicated to storytelling, these companies have pushed at the edges of what is possible in Zoom theatre and world creation. They are definitely two companies to watch going forward, with new online productions appearing regularly — Creation have just announced their latest show, Grimm Tales for Fragile Times and Broken People, opening at the end of January.
Southwark Playhouse
I have a fairly regular Friday night date at Southwark Playhouse. The theatre has offered a variety of live streamed drama, musicals and concerts over lockdown, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything I have seen. However, particular highlights included Philip Ridley’s one-man show The Poltergeist, beautifully performed by Joseph Potter — the in-studio filming offered all the intimacy of an in-person studio performance, and I was mesmerised. I love musical theatre, so Southwark Playhouse’s commitment to showcasing new musical works is exciting to me. Fiver, a new musical by Alex James Ellison and Tom Lees performed in concert, offered touching humour and Britpop-esque guitar-based songs (perfect for this 40-something northerner!) I loved the staging that involved Zoom-influenced socially distanced passing of coffees, birthday cards and the eponymous ‘fiver’, and the interactive ad libbed interval break that set Twitter challenges for the audience at home enhanced notions of liveness.
The Fabulist Fox Sister was my standout favourite: Luke Bateman and Michael Conley’s one-man show (performed by Conley) is a sardonic, hilarious telling of the almost real life story of Kate Fox, who accidently invented séances in the 1800s. With great songs, witty asides and a heavy pour of Jim Beam, it was a perfect Friday night performance (and as it happens, I rebooked for the Saturday as one viewing wasn’t enough!). Director Adam Lenson (and his production company ALP Musicals) is one to watch in digital musical theatre as he continues to make waves in this new performance medium. Next up at Southwark Playhouse is Public Domain, a musical by Francesca Forristal and Jordan Paul Clarke and directed by Lenson, based entirely on words spoken and typed on the internet in the last year by both influencers and everyday internet users. With just three performances on 15th and 16th January and tickets only £10 until 11th January (£15 after), you’ll need to move quickly to catch it! After that, there’s another chance to see The Poltergeist if you missed it last year, as it’ll be available to stream again from 25th January to 28th February.
American Dreams Play
My final mention is for Leila Buck’s American Dreams Play, which transformed the US immigration process into a game show format: three contestants each playing for a Green Card, for the ‘American Dream’. No stranger to interactive Zoom theatre, I willingly volunteered to be a delegate to help with the process. However, as the production progressed, I felt increasingly uncomfortable — I felt manipulated, forced to participate in a flawed, prejudiced process.
Underneath the glossy game show façade was something much darker — half-seen interactions at the side of the screen, moments brief but powerful. An audience primed to vote — for simple things at first, such as the best cartoon or most enjoyable party trick — but ultimately the questions became xenophobic edging on racist. I was close to unmuting and heckling — disappointed in how some fellow audience members were voting, I found myself searching out my equally angry counterparts in the Zoom audience. Good theatre makes you feel — and this production made me fizz with anger. I felt numb, like I had been a part of something I shouldn’t have. Watching during the week of the American Presidential election, it all seemed a little too close for comfort! I watched a live stream from the final leg of the production’s virtual tour hosted by the Marin Theatre Company in California (taking advantage of a Californian matinee and a very late night in Switzerland!). If this production ‘tours’ again, it would be well worth booking a ticket and joining in.
Looking Forward…
I’m excited to see what this new digital performance medium will bring in 2021. While we have focussed on Shakespeare in lockdown here, we do feel that it’s important to note that nothing happens in a vacuum. We are already seeing this new media developing aesthetic conventions and norms, noticing incremental advances in technology and interactive possibilities. Going forward, Ben and I will consider more of this new form of theatre on this blog under a ‘Rethinking Performance’ header, with our first article on Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical coming soon…
