BEHAVIOUR
Once And For All . . . (top ) Ann Liv Young and (bottom) John Moran and His Neighbour Saori
heatrc. it‘s fair to say. suffers from an
image problem. Despite being an utterly
flexible and inventive art form. most people still associate ‘theatre‘ with a red plush seat and the passive consumption of a story for two hours (perhaps pausing briefly for a gin and tonic). At the end you applaud. maybe even stand up. then you leave.
That‘s not what theatre has ever been like at The Arches. but these assumptions may explain why artistic director Jackie Wylie has chosen to rebrand the nine-year-old annual Arches Theatre Festival as Behaviour. a no-holds- barred celebration of live performance. Wylie is in revolutionary mood when we meet. lining with excitement over the fortnight-long programme of genre—defying international work she’s pulled together. lior her. this festival is not just a showcase of disparate works; its a call to arms.
‘What I want to do with Behaviour is offer people the chance to be active. rather than passive in the way they experience culture.’ she says. ‘To take something back for themselves. By renaming it. I want to get people‘s attention: we‘re less interested in categorising the work that we‘re putting on. and more interested in creating a programme which will have a particular appeal. ()bviously. we've taken the word ‘theatre‘ out. but not because we think that theatre is in any way irrelevant or uncool. Many of the pieces are about looking at the ways that theatre retains relevance to a contemporary audience.‘
Wylie wants the festival to pull down the barriers that usually exist between audience and performer.
‘When you go to a music gig. you don't pretend there‘s an imaginary fourth wall
18 THE LIST 2—16 Apr 2039
Kirstin Innes gets the
lowdown on Behaviour, a new
festival at the Arches that wants to spur you into action
‘BEHAVIOUR SUGGESTS SOMETHING HUMAN AND ANIMAL '
between you and the pei‘foiiiiei; what happens is a more permeable arrangement. I don't think tilt} Hi. the artists w e‘ve booked this year tile particularly interested in that fourth wall; what they have in common is their ‘liveiiess'. theii (llft't'llC\\. 'Beliaviour'. to me. suggests something human and animal and active. not pusshe.‘
The pi'ogramiiic features contributions lt‘ttlil such rightly lauded [lietlll‘e'llittkei's as Illll (‘rouch and .-\| Seed. but also includes lilitll Blunt/v Ila/l. where (ilasgovv artist .\'ic (ireeii recreates an interactive panel debate between the leading lights of l‘)7t)s leniiiiism. .-\nn l.iv Young. the American theatre»niaker and. er. enthusiastic nudist who has a longstanding relationship with the venue. has been given the freedom of Death l)isco. the .'\rches' most popular club night. There are also contributions by influential New York avant garde coiiiposei (and lggy l’op collaborator) .loliii .\loraii. music label Seven Things. visual artist Ittl'\letl l.auschmaiin and filmmaker ( iail Sneddon.
Kicking off the festival in a joyous. riotous bowl is the huge hit of last year‘s l'ringe. ()Ilt't' .‘Ilttf [inn-III We're (in/mu 'li'll You Who We .‘Il't'. Sn Slim 1]) .‘III(/ listen. a set of llilel'et)lilieeletl. Usually wordless vignettes on teenage ltle. performed by a writhing mass of l4 IX year olds from Belgium.
’Yes. ()Itt't’ .-\m/ [inn-ill. . . really sums up the whole pl‘tigt’ttltiliie.‘ \‘v'y lie says. 'Ilttit period in your life being a teenager it‘s almost like being prc-socialised. There's a wildness and euphoria; being a teenager is all about making gut responses to the things you‘re faced with. All that vitality. all that liedonisin. It‘s impossible not to have a strong reaction to it'
What links all Wylie's programme choices is a refusal to let the audience sleepwalk through the experience. and she hopes. their lives.
'l've noticed a certain cynicism iii the way we interact with the world these days] she explains. ‘I think it's born out of a feeling that we're not really capable of changing anything around tis. These huge social structures that everyone believed in have proven themselves untrustworthy. People feel alienated. Behaviour is about remembering that were living and breathing. with the capacity to act upon our own surroundings: that we can choose how to react and how to behave.‘
Behaviour is at the Arches, Glasgow, Mon 13-Sat 25 Apr. See Theatre listings or www.thearches.co.uk for full details.