Now OK I don't think I'm ever going to want to go and see Franco B bleeding all over the floor or Carolee Schneemann pulling scrolls out of her lady garden. But I love going to scratch events like Show Us Yer Bits (curated by GetInTheBackOfTheVan) which I went to last week because my friends Sedated by a Brick were performing a first peek at some of their new work.
Sedated By A Brick presented some really poetic work which reminded me a bit of doing Burglers at school (remember that? "What have the vandals done with my sandals?") They need to do some work to combine their new work with language with the impressive physical work they have done before but I think they will work this out and create something strong and affecting if not particularly comprehensible.
Next up was Sarah Bell who presented a really cute piece about her revisiting a film about the moon landings which she loved as a child when she wanted to be an astronaut. I thought this was very affective because it made me feel awe and wonder about men landing on the moon which I don't really feel normally. It also had loads of room for her to explore further the ideas about forgotten childhood dreams, nostalgia and media.
Lastly we saw a very funny piece by tatty-del exploring their competitive/bitchy relationship with each other. I thought this was an honest piece which I found very authentic. Some of the scenarios they played out I recognised from my own relationships with my family and female friends which made me think about myself and how I interact with people.
So an enjoyable evening all round. If you're still sceptical about going to see any theatre that doesn't have a playwright's name on the poster, here are a few reasons to give an alternative type of theatre a try.
1) If you enjoy surreal comedy like the Boosh or Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy there is no reason to assume you won't enjoy a similarly weird experience in a theatre.
2) I've had a depressingly large number of people in work and on dates ask me what my star sign is recently. Obviously people who 'believe' in star signs either are really stupid, want you to think they are really stupid, or have cunningly turned their brains off in order to avoid dealing with large difficult questions and help them to reduce the world to small manageable chunks. This is a talent I find both dangerous and enviable. If, like me, you occasionally find yourself so choked with the surrounding stupidity it is hard to breathe, I guarantee you will find some challenging theatre created by people who are really doing something with their brains very refreshing.
3) People who make this kind of theatre are lovely people who want to know what you think. You might expect them to be arrogant, annoying, North-London-Hipster type people and ok some of them are. But the majority in my experience are crafting their work to communicate with the audience member in the most effective way possible. They are far more open to suggestions and constructive criticism that any other type of artist, playwright or musician that I have ever met.
4) Don't knock it until you've tried it. I took my friend Faye to see DV8 a few years ago, nervous that she would hate it and think I was mental. She turned to me when the lights went up and said 'That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.' Now we regularly go and check out contemporary physical theatre/dance productions at Sadlers Wells and elsewhere and have had many more amazing evenings.
5) Nothing will ever make you sound more impressive at dinner parties than up-to-date knowledge of cutting-edge theatre.
I'm not saying you will like everything you see. Some of it is pretentious twaddle which will leave you cold. But I could also say that of many Shakespeare adaptations.
Thanks to Rob for coming with me to Show Us Yer Bits. I think he enjoyed it.
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