Theatre
TOURING SHOW THE TROUBLE WITH ASIAN MEN Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 12-Sat 16 Jun
Male Asian actors must be relieved to know that there is still work for them in Britain that doesn’t involve playing either a terrorist or comic family man. A good deal of that work comes from Tamasha.
In recent years Tamasha has received enough gold stars for the public to get over its intimidatingly successful premiere of Ayub Khan Din’s celebrated East is East and look at the company anew. One of the reasons is this treble authored 2005 hit, here making a welcome visit to the Citz. The idea of asking over 100 assorted people from various ages, races and income brackets their views on Asian blokes, then editing the tapes down to form a single, multi- voiced script is adventurous; piping the tapes into the ears of four actors so that they can recite the dialogue, verbatim to the very pauses, even more so.
But don’t feel sorry for Nick Khan, who among his many characters must get under the skin of a white taxi driver, a Swedish girl going out with an Asian man, and a secretly gay Asian man. He’s having a great time. The actor acknowledges the technical challenges, but was well rewarded when this revival went up in London. ‘When we opened last weekend 80 percent of the audience were Asian women. At the start we come in among the audience, and ask women, “what do you think of Asian men?”, and they give it, “they’re ignorant, they love their cars too much, they spend too long grooming their beards” and so on. It was really funny.’
There is, though, a more serious element: ‘I suppose since 9/11, there’s been such a huge change in the perception of the Asian community. Brown is the new black. I’m 39, so I can remember when black people were the ones to hate. Now lslamophobia is very much the thing. We’ve had a government and media who’ve disenfranchised people so their own voices aren’t heard - it’s rare to see people speaking for themselves.’ (Steve Cramer)
82 THE LIST 7-21 Jun 2007
CONTEMPORARY [DANCE MARK BRUO
DANCE COMPANY Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 16 Jun
Sometimes you have to leave things behind to move forward. trained as a dancer, Mark Bruce has performed and choreographed With companies across the world. But he has also turned his back on the dance world on several occasions. to explore film. theatre, music and writing. All of which influence the work he creates today.
Bruce's latest piece. Sea of Bones pulls together all his interests. With a little mythology thrown in. lhere's also the added attraction of music by Nick Cave. lom Waits and Sonic Youth. 'I always choreograph to music | listen to.' says Bruce. ‘And there has to be something very specific in the track that I'm drawn to. It's very tricky using songs by well-known people. and | feel I have to have an original interpretation of those songs. rather than just representing them.‘
'lhe show's opening scene features a row of dancers clutching severed heads. which could account for the slightly macabre title. But as Bruce explains. it goes tar deeper than that. 'lhe title is about delving into the imagination.” he says. "And it's also a metaphor for life —‘ you can live on the surface. or you can dive into the depths. which can be dark and scary but very beautiful.‘ (Kelly Apter)
H 81 |V/\l
(Steve Cramer)
CONTEMPORARY DANCE
I HAVE A SECRET TO TELL YOU, fiLEASE) LEAVE WITH E
Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 8-Sat 9 Jun
'I think. essentially, this piece is about escape." says choreographer Ina Christel Johannessen. ‘About wanting to get to another level. to another place. another way of thinking. but wanting and needing someone else to come With you on the journey. to 10”] you there.‘
Johannessen, who is currently in Norway. is taking time out between meetings. and taiks rapidly about the themes at work in //iave a secret to tell you (please; leave vat/i me. the piece her company /ero Visibility Corp are bringing to lramway this fortnight. It's a ballet. but i')erformed to electronic music. which. as Johannessen says. 'allows the dancers very very sharp. expressive movement'.
Four dancers: three men, one woman. enact the possibilities of movement and stasis. using little more than a white space and a wooden gym horse. itself at once static and representing an idea of perpetual motion. ‘I think this is a more metaphorical work than usual.' says Johannessen. and certainly the reception in ScandinaVia has suggested that /have a secret . . . represents a significant maturing Ill her work. 'We use lights to create the ideas of seagulls and galloping horses. A lot of people have responded to the shadows. too -- that idea of Plato’s (Dave. you know. where you only see people's shadows and presume them to be reality' lKll’Sllll Innesl I Excerpts from the work can be Viewed at i.vww/eroct)n)s.corn
DEBUT AUTHORS’ FESTIVAL Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 8—Sun 10 Jun
There's a certain logic to Scotland's new writing theatre hosting an event which focuses on new writing in other mediums. but this year. there's a stronger link than ever between this festival of first time writers than in the previous two incarnations of the event.
For one thing. there's a discussion led by performers Karen Glossop and Karen McLeod. both debut authors. on how to get writing performed. But there's far more than this. from a kind of jam session where new writers read their work and are given instant feedback by a panel of Judges and an audience. to a session on famous first books. spirit to the weekend long event. so participate if you Wish. 'I make sure that all the talks have very clear themes. so there are talks about love. about how to make new writing, and about how to make a performance of work. and so on.' explains Pru Rowlandson (pictured) director of Authortalks.
And there's a logic to the whole sliebbang: ‘lt's not lllSl for people who want to write books —t l have no intention of ever writing a book. If you love music you go and listen to new bands. so if you like reading, why not go to see new authors?’ Howlandson adds. “I iterary festivals are ftill of celebrities. people off the telly, people who've won the Booker Pri/e. even people who've won the Nobel Pri/e. My festival is different, because it's purely about the writing itself, these aren't well known people.’
lhere's a kind of interactive