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[TT 18-3 features]
[Headline] Monkey Business
[Standfirst] Dorothy Max Prior
meets physical comedy maestros Spymonkey
ItÕs the festival month of May and
Brighton is buzzing. A lively posse of people are occupying a large table in
The Tin Drum, a noisy cafŽ-bar in Kemptown, passing down pints of Hoegarten,
prodding plates of chips, chattering like monkeys. This motley crew is the
newly enlarged (for extra pleasure) Spymonkey, returning in triumph (after a
two-year stint in Las Vegas courtesy of Cirque du Soleil) for a high-profile
run at the lush and lovely Theatre Royal.
The four performers – Aitor
Basauri, Stephan Kreiss, Petra Massey and Toby Park – are here, as is the
companyÕs director Cal McCrystal, designer Lucy Bradridge and new kid on the
block – set maker and scenographer extraordinaire Graeme Gilmour.
The current show, Cooped, is playing
as one of main attractions of the festivalÕs theatre programme – this down
for the most part to the vision of the Brighton Festival producer Jane McMorrow,
who has nurtured the relationship with the Theatre RoyalÕs artistic director
Julien Boast, the venue having in previous festivals hosted companies such as Zygo
Theatre and dreamthinkspeak).
Cooped, described as Ôa pulp
gothic thrillerÕ, is a re-launched version of a show first devised in 2002,
extended in length with a bigger and better set. ÔSo itÕs now a ÒproperÓ
theatre show, with two acts and an interval?Õ I ask in a slightly teasing way,
but Cal McCrystal has no reservations at all about buying into theatrical
conventions: ÔYes – with an interval so that the theatres can sell some
ice creams and drinks!Õ And you know IÕm with them on this one: give me red
plush and interval G&Ts rather than dour black boxes with no bar any day of
the week. In fact, the glamorously gilded Theatre Royal is the perfect venue
for Cooped: its loopy English country-manor setting of oak-panelled rooms
adorned with stuffed pheasants, cocky butlers and cravated gentry sits
perfectly on a stage overlooked by velvet-draped balconies and painted plaster
cherubs.
ÔItÕs a chance to perform the show on a stage made for it,Õ
says Toby Park. The choice of a mainstream venue brings in a new audience to
the show – people who would perhaps never knowingly choose to go and see
a piece of devised theatre built on clowning and physical comedy skills. But
here they all are: grannies blushing at the naughty bits, kids hooting with
laughter, twenty-somethings on a date holding hands and grinning, teenagers
from the local sixth-form colleges clutching each other in glee. Sitting behind
me are four ladies of a certain age on a girlsÕ night out who are practically
rolling in the aisles as the gentlemen of Spymonkey dance onto the stage in the
nude, dangly bits not quite hidden by fig leaves, in one of the glorious
set-pieces which IÕm delighted to say are still as funny on second or third
viewing. Other gems include Petra MasseyÕs mad Chinese lady emerging from the
walls in a Crouching Tiger wire-flying pastiche, and her Ôpop my corkÕ
ping-pong ball scene (a new addition to the show, the exact details of which I
shall leave to the readerÕs imagination).
ItÕs a triumphant return to
Brighton for the company, who have a long-standing relationship with the
seaside town. Company co-founder Toby Park lives here, and it has been their
regular rehearsal spot since their first show, Stiff Undertaking, was devised
at the ActorsÕ Creative Training Studio in Kemptown. Stiff premiered at the
Komedia Theatre in December 1998 and a reworked version of the show went to the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the British Council Showcase 2000, where
it won critical acclaim and a Total Theatre Award to boot, thus launching them
onto the international festival and touring circuit. In 2001, Stiff was
performed at the London International Mime Festival (LIMF).
The companyÕs second show, Cooped,
was similarly devised and premiered in Brighton, then went to the Edinburgh
Fringe in 2001 and LIMF in 2002. Spymonkey were lauded as the rising stars of
physical theatre and spent a great deal of time touring the world over the next
few years with both shows. Proving that physical comedy is truly international
in its appeal, the company played to enthusiastic audiences across three
continents – including trips to Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan and Mexico to
name but a few pit-stops. A double bill of Stiff and Cooped played at the
Paramount Comedy Festival, Brighton, in 2002 – reaching new audiences
outside of the theatre circuit. Spymonkey returned to LIMF 2003, and the
company also developed an ongoing working relationship with One Yellow Rabbit
Performance Theatre in Calgary, Canada.
It seemed that everything in the
Monkey garden was rosy – but then came a major blow for the company as
their new project, Bless, failed to get touring funding from Arts Council
England, despite a Total Theatre Award, support by the British Council for
international touring, and appearances at the London International Mime
Festival for three successive years. It seemed that physical comedy fell
through a gap in the funderÕs book, being popular with audiences of all ages
apparently making them entertainment rather than art – a plight that at
the time also adversely affected many street arts and circus companies (who
likewise used the undervalued skills of clowning, mime and physical comedy).
The physical theatre sector
rallied in support in response to the news that the company could no longer
survive without funding. Tom Morris (formerly of BAC, now associate director of
the National Theatre) saw Spymonkey as Ôclowns supreme, the high priests of
fooleryÕ. Julian Crouch of Improbable described them as Ôgroundbreaking and
sharply brilliantÉ they take big risks in their work and manage to be both true
to a highly experimental process and take their audience with them on that
journey.Õ
Then came an offer from Cirque du
Soleil to create comedy material for an adult cabaret in Las Vegas. The
resulting show, Zumanity, played in its own purpose-built theatre at the New
York-New York Hotel and Casino for 900 shows in two years. ÔOur loss is Las
VegasÕs gain,Õ said Crouch, echoing the views of many of us sad to see them go.
Their decision was a pragmatic one – they had no money and couldnÕt
survive in the UK as a devising troupe making new work, so agreed to a two-year
contract in Las Vegas, with the intention of returning to the UK after that
time to rework Cooped and to put the shelved Bless into development.
And, God bless Õem, this is
exactly what has happened. The company have returned to the UK as planned,
following a period of re-development of Cooped at One Yellow RabbitÕs Calgary
HQ, Ôtaking the show out of the closetÕ and reworking it as a mid-scale piece,
then a trip to Australia for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
At this point in the discussion, I
learn as an aside that there is a sub-category of Australian groupie called
Ôgag-hags – theyÕre girls whoÕll sleep with you because youÕre funnyÉÕ
Not that this would be of any interest to Spymonkey as they are all married
– and indeed some of them got married again when in Las Vegas just for
the hell of it (ÔNo, donÕt put that we are married,Õ says Aitor. ÔWe will seem
less desirableÕ. I ask Stephan who he married in Las Vegas and he replies, ÔMy
wife.Õ)
Following the Brighton appearance,
Cooped next goes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a run at the Assembly
Rooms throughout August.
When we meet (May 2006) they are
awaiting the news from the new funding application for Bless, hoping to start
work on it as soon as possible. ÔIt was a brilliant idea then and itÕs a
brilliant idea now,Õ says Cal, optimistic that times have changed and that the
Arts Council officers making the decision will come up with a very different
result three years on. And glory be, in June the stop-press news comes in that
SpymonkeyÕs application has been successful. So full credit to Arts Council
England South East – and off the Monkeys go into the rehearsal studioÉ
The show will be based on the
lives of saints – and will no doubt leave few stones unturned in its
exploration of the comic possibilities within sainthood, sanctity, and the
doctrines of the Catholic Church. I ask if, post-Springer, they are worried
about causing offence in dealing with religious matters, but having made a show
about dead bodies and funerals (Stiff) and then Cooped, which features a
flatulent heroine, butt-naked men with bouncing balls and various piss-takes of
cultural stereotypes (the aforementioned Chinese scene apparently a great
success with the Chinese-Australian community in Melbourne), breaking taboos is
not really too much of a concern.
The format of the new show is
planned to be rather different from the previous ones, with Bless proposed as a
series of five ÔplayletsÕ, each centred around one Spymonkey member, giving
them the chance to show off their diverse performance styles. The show will be
developed winter 2006, and previews in Switzerland, the UK and Canada in 2007.
It will be, says Cal, Ôan
opportunity to perform miracles live on stageÕ. And Petra adds, ÔAll this and
nice costumes too!Õ
[Footnote] Spymonkey Cooped plays
at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh at 17.20 daily (except for the 15 August)
throughout the Fringe festival. See www.edfringe.com
For further information on the
company see www.spymonkey.co.uk
[Ends]