Author Archives: Dorothy Max Prior

About Dorothy Max Prior

Dorothy Max Prior is the editor of Total Theatre Magazine, and is also a performer, writer, dramaturg and choreographer/director working in theatre, dance, installation and outdoor arts. Much of her work is sited in public spaces or in venues other than regular theatres. She also writes essays and stories, some of which are published and some of which languish in bottom drawers – and she teaches drama, dance and creative non-fiction writing. www.dorothymaxprior.com

Total Theatre Awards 2013 Winners Announced

Total Theatre is delighted to announce the winners of the Total Theatre Awards 2013. Over the course of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe we have assessed 360+ shows from which a shortlist of 32 nominated shows was announced on 16 August 2013.

Following this the nominated shows were viewed by a panel of judges who have awarded six Awards across three categories – one Award for an Emerging Company, two Awards for Visual/Physical Theatre and three Awards in Innovation, Experimentation and Playing With Form. The judges also considered a number of late opening shows, however due to the quantity of eligible shows it was not possible to apply Total Theatre’s rigorous assessment and judging process in full and thus no discretionary judges award has been awarded this year. One Significant Contribution award has also been awarded.

The Award Winners are:

Shows by an Emerging Company/Artist

Sh!t Theatre’s JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous) 2013 (England)

Sh!t Theatre / Escalator East to Edinburgh (Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel)

Physical/Visual Theatre

L’Après-midi d’un Foehn – Version 1 (France)

Company Non Nova, presented by Crying out Loud (Summerhall)

Flown (England)

Pirates of the Carabina, presented by Crying out Loud (Underbelly)

Innovation, Experimentation & Playing with Form

Bonanza (Belgium)

Berlin, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, Drum Plymouth, Summerhall (Summerhall)

Have I No Mouth (Ireland)

Brokentalkers (Traverse)

The Worst of Scottee (England)

Scottee Inc. (Assembly)

Significant Contribution Award

C!rca (Australia)

The judging panel for this years were: Donald Hutera (Theatre & Dance Critic, The Times), Sarah J Murray (Head of Studio, National Theatre), Matt Trueman (Freelance Theatre Critic), Matt Burman (Head of Programming and Audiences, Warwick Arts Centre), Wolfgang Hoffman (Director, Aurora Nova Productions), Professor Anthony Dean (Dean of Arts, University of Winchester), Pippa Bailey (Producer & Director), Robert Jude Daniels (Senior Lecturer in Theatre, University of Chichester), Gary Johnson (General Manager, Derby Theatre), Dorothy Max Prior (Editor Total Theatre Magazine), Jo Crowley (Producer of Total Theatre Awards).

Press & Industry Enquiries

For further information, or to arrange interviews contact

Jo Crowley, Producer, on 07843 274 684 / director@totaltheatre.org.uk

Becki Haines, Associate Producer on 07732 818401 / awards@totaltheatre.org.uk

Total Theatre Awards

Twitter: @TotalTheatreAwd

The Total Theatre Awards are proudly supported by:

Belarus Free Theatre: Trash Cuisine

It starts pretty low-key, with dim lights and a mellow guitar tune (played live), then into an ensemble physical theatre scene – eight people and as many wooden stools acting out motifs of restraint, disorientation and unbalance. It revs up with the arrival of a crowd-rousing compere: ‘I said HELLO Edinburgh!’ who goes into a little rap on the Scots’ love of meat – meat with meat, even. It really takes off with the first of many satirical scenes that tell stories of terror and death whilst playing out harrowing visual metaphors of the human being treated as little more than meat. So in this scene, dubbed ‘strawberries and cream’, two executioners compare notes over the dinner table on their countries’ capital punishment tactics. Person A just takes them off and shoots them in the woods, not bothering to return the bodies to the families (we presume this to be about Belarus). Person B, who seems to be representing an Asian country, says that executioners ask forgiveness of the bodies of those killed, place flowers in their dead hands, and prepare a meal for the victim’s family. It’s hard to say which is more distressing.

And so it goes – we ricochet from Belarus (the only European country to retain the death penalty) to Belfast (appalling torture only happens in faraway lands? Think again!), via Argentina, America and China.

The term ‘total theatre’ could have been invented for this show: live music that veers from soft and sultry guitar boleros to big bombastic hand-beaten drum tattoos. Spoken words: disorientating dialogue, on-mic narration by the chipper compere, and a mock stand-up comedy scene in which we are treated to ‘impressions’ of death by various means, from gas chamber (‘Hisssssssssssssssss’) to stoning (‘I’ll just do an excerpt from this one because it can take hours!’). Recorded words: on-screen statistics, pre-recorded verbatim texts, and interview material – which includes an extraordinary detailed description of the process of electrocution given by renowned human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. Word-free scenes using simple but beautiful choreography – the wooden stools become a recurring motif, and there is a lovely tango dance for the Argentinean story of a ‘disappeared’ young man. Startling visual images: two naked human bodies hunched up like oven-ready chickens, decorated in fruit then rolled in black plastic body bags; two condemned boys hung from the wall. Oh and then there’s the cooking… ‘Meat is murder’ rings through the hall, in our heads if not actually in reality.

There are many shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 tackling harrowing personal stories and appalling political situations worldwide. Here’s one that knows how to do it in a way that leaves the audience shocked – but in the right sort of way. Shocked to learn (or be reminded of) such atrocities, but given this information in a way that uses the tools of theatre artfully to do so – telling us about terror without terrorising us; giving us food for thought. Having worthy and shocking stories to tell is not enough if you’re a theatre-maker – it’s how you tell them that matters. Just for the record: there were many walkouts; there were people in tears; there was a well-deserved ovation. Trash Cuisine is a phenomenal piece of theatre, an extraordinary achievement from Belarus Free Theatre.

Action Hero: Hoke’s Bluff

Go wildcats! Make some noise! Let’s get out there and win – whatever it takes. And to the tune of Party Rock Anthem, here comes a great big dancing bear – or maybe it’s a lion or a tiger, anyway, something big and furry – the team mascot, HB. And a whole gaggle of cheerleaders wrapped up in one pom-pom waving female body. (‘Give us an H, give us an O…’) Everybody just have a good time! Raise your hands! Every day I’m shufflin…

Action Hero continue their theatrical exploration – nay, obsession – with American culture and mores in latest show Hoke’s Bluff. As they put it, a quest ‘to interrogate American mythmaking’ (previous shows have investigated Western movies and daredevil stunt riders). This time, it’s all about the big game.

The audience are seated in traverse, in grandstand seats facing the pitch or field or ice or whatever it might be for a football/baseball/hockey/ice hockey game. There is deliberate confusion – it’s a game, that’s all that matters. It’s THE game, the one that really matters. The one that everything depends on.

Every cliché in the book is played out. The clean-cut boy sports hero who faces the toughest fight of his life. The chipper cheerleader girlfriend egging him on. The rivalry and sisterhood of the other cheerleaders. The team players, a Brotherhood of Men (no longer boys). The kind surrogate-father turned tough-cookie coach. The firm-but-fair umpire, whistle in hand, creating a semaphore of arm movements that only the initiated understand. Scores are announced breathlessly. Rules and regs we don’t understand are cited. Decision stands! The colours of the red-and-yellow team strip reflected on ever sign and banner, in every piece of plastic furniture or drink can in sight.

But here’s the really clever thing. Hoke’s Bluff isn’t yet another one of those postmodern ironic shows that show up and mock popular culture and populist conventions. Action Hero get right inside, just as easily as they get inside that big furry animal suit. They are not just pointing at the thing, they’re doing the thing. And they bring us with them, as spectators, and as collaborators in the action.

And it’s so easy to fit in: to cheer, to rabble-rouse, to look back into our coach’s eyes, to worry about mainman Tyler Purdum when he’s down on the ground surrounded by medics, or girl-next-door Connie Stevens when she’s confessing her love or talking about getting a soda at Big Joe’s Shakehouse. We’ve all been there – we’ve lived the sporting life vicariously through TV and film (from Horse Feathers to Wildcats to Remember the Titans and beyond). We’ve lived in small-town America, regardless of where we come from. We’ve seen It’s a Wonderful Life and Orange County. We’ve read Anne Tyler and Alice Hoffman and Stewart O’Nan. Some of us are even old enough to remember Peyton Place. We know these characters as if they were our own brothers or sisters or fathers or sons. And it’s all acted out so beautifully, so perfectly by the Action Hero duo (Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse) playing Tyler, Connie and just about everybody else, with guest performer/co-deviser Laura Dannequin as the constant rock that is the umpire. Other collaborators are co-writer Nick Walker and dramaturg Deborah Pearson, whose contributions have no doubt helped to make it the neatly scripted and dramaturgically tight ship that it is.

The key to the show’s success is that it is all done with love. There’s a beautiful duality in action: Hoke’s Bluff is a double bluff that places both the company and its audience simultaneously on the inside and on the outside looking in. A very clever piece of theatre; a cracking night out.

Total Theatre Awards 2013 Nominations Announced!

Total Theatre is delighted to announce the Total Theatre Awards 2013 Nominations List. A total of 32 productions across three categories have been shortlisted.

The Total Theatre Awards Judging panel will announce their decisions at the Total Theatre Awards Ceremony on 22 August 2013. Up to six Awards across the three categories, including one Award for an Emerging Company or Artist will be awarded.

Due to the quantity of Total Theatre Awards eligible shows opening post shortlisting this year, the Total Theatre Awards’ panel of judges reserve the right to nominate further shows for consideration for one additional Award.

Shows by an Emerging Company/Artist:

Freeze! (Belgium & Netherlands)

Nick Steur Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, Drum Plymouth, Theater-aan-Zee, (Summerhall)

I Could’ve Been Better (England)

Idiot Child in association with Bristol Old Vic Ferment (Pleasance)

La Donna è Mobile (England)

RemoteControl (Summerhall)

Party Piece (England)

New Wolsey Young Associates / Escalator East To Edinburgh (Bedlam Theatre)

Sh!t Theatre’s JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous) 2013 (England)

Sh!t Theatre / Escalator East to Edinburgh (Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel)

The Various Lives of Infinite Nullity (England)

Clout Theatre (Summerhall)

Physical/Visual Theatre:

Bianco (Wales)

NoFit State Circus (NoFit State Circus Big Top)

Circa: Wunderkammer (Australia)

Circa, presented by Underbelly Productions (Underbelly)

Flown (England)

Pirates of the Carabina, presented by Crying out Loud (Underbelly)

La Poème (France)

Company Bal / Jeanne Mordoj, presented by Crying out Loud (Summerhall)

L’Après-midi d’un Foehn – Version 1 (France)

Company Non Nova, presented by Crying out Loud (Summerhall)

Feral (Scotland)

Tortoise in a Nutshell in co-production with Cumbernauld Theatre (Summerhall)

Fright or Flight (Australia)

3 is a Crowd & Cara Hume (Assembly)

One Step Before the Fall (Czech Republic)

Spitfire Company and Damúza Theater (Zoo)

Ménage à Trois (Scotland)

Claire Cunningham & Gail Sneddon, presented by National Theatre of Scotland (Paterson’s Land)

Smashed (England)

Gandini Juggling (Assembly)

Tangram (Germany)

Stefan Sing & Cristiana Casadio (Pleasance)

Tourniquet 2013 (Belgium)

Abattoir Fermé, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan, Drum Plymouth, Summerhall (Summerhall)

Innovation, Experimentation & Playing with Form:

Adrienne Truscott’s Asking for It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else! (USA)

Adrienne Truscott / The Wau Wau Sisters (Heroes @ Bobs Bookshop)

Anoesis (Scotland)

Junction 25 (Summerhall)

The Ballad of the Burning Star (England)

Theatre Ad Infinitum (Pleasance)

Beating McEnroe (England)

Jamie Wood (Summerhall)

Birdhouse (England)

Jammy Voo (Assembly)

Bonanza (Belgium)

Berlin, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, Drum Plymouth, Summerhall (Summerhall)

Credible Likeable Superstar Rolemodel (England)

Bryony Kimmings / Escalator East to Edinburgh (Pleasance)

Have I No Mouth (Ireland)

Brokentalkers (Traverse)

HeLa (Scotland)

Adura Onashile in association with Iron-Oxide (Summerhall)

Major Tom (England)

Victoria Melody / Farnham Maltings / Harlow Playhouse/ Escalator East to Edinburgh (Summerhall)

Nirbhaya (Canada)

Assembly, Riverside Studios and Poorna Jagannathan (Assembly)

Solfatara (Spain)

Atresbandes (Summerhall)

Squidboy (New Zealand)

Theatre Beating (Assembly)

The Worst of Scottee (England)

Scottee Inc. (Assembly)

3 is a Crowd: Fright or Flight

A game of blind-man’s-buff, the sound of a distorted music box, rubber glove feet, and a great big cry of cock-a-doodle doo. Welcome into the world three batty birds, emerging blinking into the light, ready for the call of nature – no, not that call, the call to freeze, fight or flight.

It’s a perfect theme for a circus show – yes, we’ve seen a number of circus bird shows – the Mamaloucos epic retelling of Aristophanes’ The Birds springs immediately to mind – but there’s room in the world for another, especially one this skilled and funny.

3 is a Crowd is a new all-female ensemble of ‘seasoned circus artists’ – Bianca Mackail, Olivia Porter and Rockie Stone – who hail from Australia and thus (inevitably I suppose) have connections with Circa. Fright or Flight is their first show and comes to the Edinburgh Fringe trailing clowds of glory, having won the Best Circus and Physical Theatre Award at Adelaide Fringe Festival 2013.

Imagine a cross between the three-woman acrobatic team Mimbre and the three-man ‘theatre of engineering’ company Akhe. Yes, they like to make a mess; yes they swap basing and flying merrily in a fabulous show of female strength. But with gorgeous aerial work thrown in (circ, rope), and some very nifty juggling.

Eggs feature (of course), as do a clutch of very lovely little wind-up chicks. There is harmony, and there is bullying. There is walking on bottles and there is a daft paper-bag whole body mask. There are tomboy birdies who won’t grow up (not me!) and there are burlesque birdies with light-up vanity cases, feather pasties, and gold shoes. There is more than one very stupid chicken suit, and there is the birdie song in German!

It’s all fantastically funny and clever, but there are also some soft and gentle moments – cue Antony and the Johnsons: ‘Bird girls can fly…’

These three have certainly found their wings, taking the impressive skills they’ve honed and developed with Circa and using them to create something idiosyncratic and unique. A gorgeous show – bravo!