This is the tale of how a critic crumbled. For Lorna Irvine, being an arts critic wasn't enough. She ended up stalking one of her favourite theatre companies, the Lecoq trained trio Clout Theatre, at the Edinburgh Fringe in August this year. With blood, sweat and vegetable-related violence, it's not a pretty story. Read her confessions here.
Every so often, a theatre company comes along whose work really chimes with you. I have had many art crushes in my young life.
But Clout entirely deserve their plaudits. Clout, consisting of Mine Cerci, George Ramsay, Sacha Plaige and Jennifer Swingler, are unique. They examine the darkness and absurdity of human nature: the impulses that make children eat scabs from knees and pull wings off butterflies and, similarly, the shadow side of the adult self. They are hilarious, warped, morbid, touching, a little melancholic and utterly beautiful.
Their two most recent shows, How a Man Crumbled and The Various Lives of Infinite Nullity, stormed the festivals, picking up huge critical acclaim. This year, Summerhall 's Artistic Director, Rupert Thomson, presented them with an award for their contribution, and they have had sell-out shows internationally, recognition from Total Theatre and won the Physical Fest Audience Award in 2012.
I met them this year at the Edinburgh Festival and was presented with a one-off T-shirt designed by them—and this was post-review! (I was genuinely touched and delighted.) They are likeable, intelligent and funny people in a tough industry. I caught up with them to see what their future plans are. I'll be waiting for them, with binoculars and packed lunch...It's not stalking, just an art crush...
Lorna Irvine: You all have very disparate backgrounds- do you think that is why Clout works so well?
Jennifer Swingler (Artist): Absolutely. When you have a group ofpeople who are creating, collectively questions are constantly being asked—why should we put this on stage? Does this moment make us laugh? Or is this movement with my hand too big or not big enough?
When the 1000s of questions posed are filtered through four creators from very different backgrounds/cultures the work starts to become a texture that is at the same time very layered in contrasting ideas, but still a whole theatrical world that we have all agreed on. We need this tension in our work. It is in the disagreement that we often find the interesting choice or moment.
In our first show as a four, How a Man Crumbled, we were working in French, English and Russian. And with that kind of linguistic cocktail, there would be days of gloriously shambolic confusion in the rehearsal room. Confusion that made us laugh. A type of confusion that we like to keep breathing in our work.
Mine Cerci (Director): Yes, I think so. In spite of the fact that we all had the same training in Lecoq School, we are coming from different countries and cultures with different artistic sensibilities and approaches. On the other hand, these differences are at the heart of Lecoq training as well. Students are encouraged to go beyond cultural conventions and find a universal dimension in their performance.
Sacha Plaige (Artist): Absolutely. In the rehearsal room as well as on stage, we push in different directions until we find a common ground for what we are looking for in theatre, and I think this is why the result is often something that we had never seen or done in theatre before.
George Ramsay (Artist): Yes, this and our very different characters, physiques, acting styles and approaches to theatre but also with a huge amount of common ground: absurd and dark humour being at the centre of that. We are a triangle onstage of varied textures: some animal, some human. When it works, these all come together to form an invisible bond.
Lorna: You play with what is often considered 'controversial' a lot on-stage... blood, sexual deviance, discomfort- all that great stuff. Has this ever offended anyone? (I'm thinking walk-outs, heckles, etc.)
Jennifer: IF ONLY! No, unfortunately today's theatre public are far too 'seen all' to be ever really “stand up, I'm leaving, this is the devil's work” offended. Much to my regret. I think that when people leave and you are on stage in the middle of spitting blood or sexual violence with vegetables, my first thought is always "we didn't go far enough…they wanted more".
I think a lot of people are searching for that kind of experience when they go to see art—to be shocked or changed. And if someone walks out they probably just think it's bad! We did have a girl in the front row who had a panic attack as George was about to throw a two day old pig's lung into the audience. This was more of a theatre lights/old offal situation. Oh, and there was a couple in Glasgow who came to the show and from the outset they were laughing at us, not with us, and it was really interesting to play a whole show when two people in the front row are NOT laughing with you. You have to stay open and find other friends in the audience. By the end of the show their laughter had turned to offended anger, so I am glad that Clout provided an entertaining roller coaster of emotions for this Glaswegian couple.
Sacha: Not really, no! Hard to offend an audience these days...Also, I think we always aim to create something quite thrilling that takes the audience on a journey, and it is rarely very offensive; in the worst case scenario, they don't get on board and are just bored, but don't leave. Unfortunately.
George: Walk-outs are pretty infrequent (especially at the Fringe, as they'd have to cross the stage at Summerhall's Demonstration Room, which might be a perilous passage). However, there was a woman who had a panic attack during the last show (How A Man Crumbled). There was an awful lot of dust and a sheep's lung involved.
Lorna: The Jacques Lecoq influence has been gathering momentum this year, especially at the Edinburgh Festival (Red Bastard, Jammy Voo, Rhum and Clay and, of course, you)- why do you think that his discipline, in particular, has captured the imagination so much?
Sacha: The Lecoq training is all about creation and finding your own style in theatre. You also spend two years constantly devising little theatre pieces, so it makes a lot of sense to keep doing that after school if you find people you enjoy working with.
Jennifer: I think that the school has been creating different and interesting companies and artists since its opening in the 50's. I am from a generation where the school didn't have a Grand Master who led us through the two year journey. It's funny how the school's reputation is such a complex one and it is fuelled by previous students who love to tell you that post- Lecoq (who passed away in 1999) the school 'just isn't the same'. And maybe they are right. For me, the school was all about the students. The chance as an artist to meet other artists from around the world and learn for two years how to fight and find what kind of art you really want to make. The school allows you above all to surprise yourself - everyday.
George: The training has creation at its core, alongside a technical rigour. Perhaps it's this combination that means that Lecoq companies do well at the Fringe, creating imaginative and skillful work. For us, the training was an incredible experience and it's always in your bones, but we also love to play with where we can break the rules we were taught.
Mine: I think because his discipline is based on mime, which works with the complicity of audience. His look, his imagination complete what happens on stage. Nothing happens on stage without the imagination of the audience. Therefore, his discipline is looking for the pure theatricality, the essence of theatre.
Lorna: Daniil Kharms, Flann O'
Brien- who is next to receive the Clout treatment?
George: For the next project it's unlikely that we'll jump into bed with another writer; it looks like we may be starting with something very simple, like laughter, for example.
Sacha: We fell in love with Daniil Kharms, but Flann O'Brien turned out to be more difficult for us to work on and we ended up creating our own world, leaving him behind. So next time we might not decide to choose a writer, but try and explore more our own personal theatrical world.
Jennifer: Well, The Various Lives of Infinite Nullity began as a piece based on the works of Flann O'Brien and became something completely different! We learnt a great deal about adaptation with this show. Daniil Kharms was a real gift, the love of Clout's life, and when we left him we jumped straight into bed with the next absurdist writer who happened to come along. And as we all know love does not work like this. So Clout are quite happy devising their own work without the help of a writer for now... at least not until the next coup de foudre!
Lorna: Have you ever considered collaborating- if so, who would be your ideal collaborator/s?
George: Ideal? That's a big one. I'd love to work with the iconoclastic Italian director Romeo Castelucci (not that I want to put our director out of a job). Would also love to work with musicians. The One Ensemble are an excellent Glasgow band who make music that sounds like folk music from an obscure and long forgotten country.
Mine: Not yet, but maybe in the future with musicians, dancers, puppeteers and circus artists.
Jennifer: Willem Defoe; Das Racist (Hip-hop group from LA), Tatsumi Hijikata, Zach Galifianakis.
Sacha: Of course. If we start getting bigger budgets for shows, we would probably get very ambitious about set design, and it would be great to have musicians (a string quartet for example, or a band!) I would personally be interested in working with a choreographer, somebody like Maguy Marin, for example.
Lorna: Obviously, what you do is incredibly physically demanding. Has there ever been an accident on stage?
Sacha: Lots of small ones, nothing really big. A bleeding toe, a close to real strangulation, bruises here and there...but our shows usually are so fast-paced that you notice only after the show is over...unless it happens to the audience (getting hit by a leek, or having a panic attack...).
George: No major accidents,
although there was a scary moment where a simulated strangling scene nearly
became a genuine strangling scene in The Various Lives... and
Sacha (our smallest member, who is always getting packed into small spaces and
sprayed with all manner of substances) admitted to once
crying on stage whilst
being packed into a suitcase in a particularly violent manner. Also, an
audience member at Surge festival in Glasgow got hit with a piece of flying
leek.
Jennifer: Hmmm, we have been pretty lucky so far. George once cut his foot during How a Man Crumbled, and our black and white film aesthetic was joined by rushes of crimson red. The audience enjoyed that. With that show there was always a looming fear of Tetanus if someone cut themselves. In The Various Lives we were dying on stage so much that any accident could be swiftly covered by a sharp improvised fall to the ground.
Lorna: What's next for Clout, post-Fringe and into next year?
George: First up is a run at the Battersea Arts Centre for The Various Lives... in October 7th- 12th then in December we'll be starting work on our new show for next year's Fringe. Early next year we'll be spending some time in Istanbul working with our director, Mine Cerci.
Jennifer: Oh, all kinds of bits and bobs. Our main focus will, as always, be to fight the powers that be and try and get our director Mine Cerci (who is Turkish and was denied her visa) into the UK. Otherwise, it will more fake blood and rehearsing by Skype!
All Clout photos by Andrew Eaton
For more information, go to www.clout-theatre.com
Twitter: @CloutTheatre
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