INFLIGHT FROM HOME: WAC ARTS- HAMPSTEAD TOWN HALL- 23.07.16

The sun was shining on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. 

My friend and I walked up to the Old Town Hall in Hampstead, iced drink in hand, looking inquisitively at the girls gearing themselves up by the wall.

Gearing up for flight

Already, a wall that would normally be dismissed had come into our periphery; it was part of the set.

I knew this performance would explore the idea of immigration and belonging, but certainly at this stage, I was trying to imagine how this could be ascertained through the aerial art form.

Whilst swirling the last drops of my iced latte, I was called into a white box area taped onto the pavement by two authorities in green boiler suits. After being asked for my personal details in the coldest of manners, I sensed the beginnings of what would be a journey into the experiences of those who had been treated as other, or perhaps as another number waiting for their fate to be decided by people who had never met them before. 

Audience registration complete. Flight begins. 

Three aerial performers rebounding off the surface of the outside wall of the town hall, solidly placing themselves into shapes that represented belonging, sometimes isolation, a quest for freedom and finally ending in a heist style escape as they ran inside, bags in hand. This was executed confidently, and was sign that the training these performers had experienced was already impressive. 

Flight begins

Upon entering audience members were given black or white cards. Aerial performs hung above us as we stepped inside to gain entry, only to be asked to go and find someone with the other colour card to allow us to enter. For a flash moment I felt quite vulnerable, searching for a stranger who would help me out. Perhaps this is how other people have had to remain in a country, by finding someone else to support them.

Entering the town hall

Find someone who has another card to enter

We were guided to the first performance space after giving our fingerprints. This echoed strongly to a migrant experience, going through processes without really knowing why we were doing them. We entered the room and on our chairs were headphones. 

Fingerprint

Headphones on

This immersive feature was a surprise, a nice surprise. My first experience as a headphone-wearing spectator was at LIFT's The Roof at the Doon Street car park by the National Theatre in 2014. I loved it. It made the performance very personal to me, like it was happening in my imagination. Thus, this was the effect it had during the rest of InFlight.

Half the audience at first were led into an experience by the performers who had little areas set up. I was left to wander and observe the table top installations which had art pieces created by people from various countries and told the story of why they were here.

Table top installation

I observed my friend as she was taken off to interact with a performer. She told me afterwards that it was with a Danish girl who was telling them about her life on a farm in the Farroe Islands. They felt the sheepskin rug, and she reminisced with them whilst they drunk warm milk and honey surrounded by candles. 

Experience with a performer from the Farroe Islands

After wondering if I was going to be left out (another emotional reference noted) I was invited to also have an experience. My experience was with a girl who was sharing her Christmas with us. We had mulled wine, shared pictures and caught a couple of minutes of Eastenders before moving on.

We were lead out and around to the next venue in a purgatory style line. Signs such as 'do not deviate' were displayed, simulating a border style queue. With the headphones still playing their personal role, my empathy was in tact, and I only needed a small amount of effort to match up my imagination to be in the shoes of another. 

This was a little taste of what it must be like for those who are seeking freedom, who want to belong somewhere else, who need to escape. The processes are strangely inhuman. I'd never thought this deeply about it before. 

In my ear, I could hear a lady saying she was stuck. Stuck in the system. 

We entered the space where the aerial performers lay on the floor, ready to bloom. Now this really was the highlight, the special moment we had been waiting for. 

After some understanding of the fact that these performers had all been on their own journey to reach the point at which they could produce such displays, some on rope, some using the silk I can truly say that the display was just breathtaking. The live drumming and eerie, ethereal singing added a dreamlike quality to the silhouettes and images.

A standout moment for me was seeing a struggling cocoon-breaking moth like movement from an artist that acted as a 'snap' card to that poignant comment from the lady about being stuck in the system, struggling, and anxious at her situation. 

The lighting was appropriate for the showcase, although some variation may have increased the silhouette image at times which I thought would have been particularly stunning.

In some ways, the performances felt like three separate installations, and I wonder if this was intended or if there could have been something that connected them more to each other?

I must congratulate WAC arts firstly on producing an emotive experience for us that other organisations do on a much bigger budget. Secondly on the demonstration of what invaluable work they do to such a high standard in providing opportunities for people to learn and access high quality arts. This display really was a testament to them. 

Any performance that invokes an emotional reaction from me and demands that I put myself in someone else's shoes is a success.

To find out more about the brilliant work that WAC arts do and to support them you can visit them here:

http://www.wacarts.co.uk

PREVIEW: Interview with BOTIS SEVA: In No Form 24.09.15-25.09.15

I got myself down to the Lilian Baylis studio yesterday to speak to Botis Seva, another man in Hip-Hop theatre who is trying to make a change.

It was a pleasure to meet him and have a chat about his company Far From the Norm and what is to be expected in his upcoming Wild Card performance at the Lilian Baylis studio next week.

It looks like we can expect the unexpected and to get prepared to actively participate.

It's Urban Immersive Theatre season for me- I'm liking it! 

Seriously looking forward to seeing this one, and if you haven't got your ticket, check back for returns, because he's so good, he's SOLD OUT!

THE DEN: Hackney Wick-Swan Wharf:12.09.15

I don't really know where to start with this post. I'm still so overwhelmingly stuffed full of flashbacks, reflections, sights and smells, that I'm struggling to assimilate a neat little packaged blog post that will do this production justice. As always...I will try my best.

After my visit to see the set the weekend before opening, I had an idea of what was to come, but I wasn't prepared for the bravery and guts that came with the experience we had that evening.

Pre-show props

Equipped with two of my very good friends in the audience, we waited outside the warehouse before the start, and were soon met with some 'youfs' shall we say; confident, cocky and dishing out papers as a pre-show present for us all in the queue. Each paper had something different written on it; 'Keeper', 'Breeder', 'Fighter' or 'Undecided' at the top, and the DEN rules underneath. So we knew there was going to be some participating, some splitting up maybe? Reminiscent of 'Punchdrunk' I thought I would get ready to listen a little harder, as I know that you get out what you put in with this kind of show.

After being ushered into a dark waiting area, a sharp spoken word opening by Rizza (Sam Rix) set the tone for where we were about to enter, a playground perhaps? What kind of playground would be worth seeing? The suspense was reeling in the air.

The curtain was raised and a large cast scattered in a dream like tableau throughout the immaculate cotch that Rufio and the Lost Boys could have only dreamed of building in 1991's Hook movie. A caravan, wooden huts, a cage, scaffolding even a chill out area (which we were later familiarised with on our guided tour). An endless childhood dream-den; earthy, dusty and 'beach estate' chic is what we were going to spend the next three hours in.

After an introduction to various key characters in the Den, a Fast and Furious car entry and a heroic leap from a first floor, we got the idea. These kids were tough, and clever, and they had made a life for themselves outside of zone one, in the year 2101 where childhood is banned outside of central London, and if you survive in zone one, you live a life that is so restricted, that you may as well not live at all. It is a place where youth is welcomed, adults are a no-no and when you reach your 18th Birthday, you must passover. Be gone. Commit to death.

That brings us to the current state of the Den. After being given a chance to walk around freely we were ushered into a cage, as Den members told us to 'zip, Freshie, zip' (Den language for 'move new kid move'). A brilliantly choreographed battle took place as we looked on from the cage, and the 'fighters' showed us what they were made of. I took note of characters 'Brutus'(Giles Maythan) and 'George' (Elinor Machen-Fortune) as their tough guy and girl characters stood out. 

George, Abrun and the audience in the courtyard

In a world where we are being surprised and shocked less and less, moments arose where surprise was in fact the key element. A girl whom we thought was a 'freshie member' with us, was directly addressed to come forward. We learned that she (Liz-Beth played by Elizabeth Mary Williams) was desperate to escape the miserable existence of the 'real world' and was eager to join this community where she could be a mother and breed with her partner. Upon being sniffed out as a fraud by George, she reveals that after deceiving Den Master Abrun (Lewis Griffin) that she was 15, she was in fact 18. You can only guess what happened to her, and it was a gunshot that was used on this occasion. We learned then that the Den was BRUTAL.

After being split into our various groups, different characters toured us around the courtyard and the warehouse,  explaining their role in the community and the important part they all played in making it work. The set was like a fantasy squat. It was scruffy and almost unliveable for some, but so cleverly recycled that it was satisfying. As a 'keeper' I was shown around by 'Ash' (Emily Owens) who revealed the DM room that nobody goes into, and the breeding room where 'you know what' happens. It was planned to such detail, that even a film set couldn't have topped the intricacies that went into this convincing backdrop. 

After hearing the hustle and bustle of the other groups being toured around, we were all brought together into the celebration area, given apples and treated to an explosive tribal dance (hats off to Cindy-I wanted to join in) before settling in to experience the final dues to Abrun, who had clearly become a much coveted leader and was reaching his 18th Birthday. By this point, we had all warmed to Abrun, and he had the right amount of endearing-ness for me to shed real tears at the thought of him stepping down and committing to death. THAT is how involved we all were at this stage.

After an interval, we returned to the celebration of Abrun's reign, and a series of 'best-man' style speeches were given in an ode to him and his leadership. A touching song led by Ash and the cast created an emotive soundscape making it all the more upsetting. This was added to by an interpretive movement piece from character 'Hermese' (Gracie-Jayne Angel) and a tribute from Abrun's love George.

All the arrows were pointing to Abrun choosing his half brother Chase (Bruce Langley) to take over the Den as leader. In an indecisive moment, Chase showed that maybe he didn't have what a leader needs, and as the audience were split again, we were left in a  room with Abrun, who tells us of his desire to remain a leader for a little while longer. This is much to the dismay of his pack who are starting to go loopy at the possibility of who will be chosen next, each one of them thinking they may be a better suitor, each one of them losing the plot in their teenage angst.

The surprise entrance of a pregnant lady (A Norwan played by Emmeline Prior) presented a huge moral dilemma, and provided the route of the story with a winding path and a much needed adult perspective to shed light on the chaos that was starting to prevail.

I don't want to go into too much detail as to how this piece ended. I have a deep hope that it will run again and I wouldn't want to write out everything in case it took away from a future experience that I hope more people can have (although I would love to as I have so much to say!)

This is by far one of the best pieces of immersive theatre I have been a part of. What a talented woman Gbemisola is to think up a production that poses so many questions about our youth, and the future that lies ahead, but also to give this age group a voice through such an engaging platform. It posed so many questions, some rhetorical, some that urgently needed answering, but this plot was certainly challenging.

There was no pretentiousness, no £50 tickets, no 'untouchable abstractness' and no moment that wasn't worth lapping up.

This was a piece that everyone could grasp, and the environment created by the set designers was so real. When talking to people afterwards, comparisons were being made to the 'The Beach', 'Lord of the Flies', 'Animal Farm', and even 'Kidulthood' sprang to mind.

A huge well done to Cindy Claes for directing the movement and choreography which had a gritty afro-tribal feel, and Brian Appiah Obeng, the Parkour master for their input to the show. I could see how their contribution had made the piece so up to date and extra dynamic. 

A final mention to the UNBELIEVABLE cast. You were all so inspiring, believable and memorable. I bet you will all remember what a great experience it must have been to be a part of this, and it was mentioned more than once by some of you that it was down to Gbemisola Ikumelo's inclusive and empowering direction style that gave everyone what they needed to perform the way they did. 

Emily Rose Owens who played Ash

I've never been so certain, that this needs to run again. No. this WILL run again.

When it does, you should run with it. Don't be afraid to visit...THE DEN.

To find out more about Faith Drama and their projects go to:

http://www.faithdrama.org.uk