NICK FEARNE, Arts Development Officer from Moray, reflects on arts matters.

Set the controls for the heart of the sun

Earlier this week I went to Aberdeen to see Wee Stories’ show, ‘One Giant Leap’, a development of their earlier production, ‘One Small Step’.

Iain Johnstone in One Giant Leap (photo - Billy Fox).

Both shows are the company’s attempt to put science on stage – to make a drama out of the subject of space. A very big subject. ‘One Giant Leap’ successfully held an audience of 40 P5/6 pupils for 80 minutes that took them on a journey to the moon and beyond.

The production included archive footage of Gagarin, JFK, Apollo blast offs and man’s first steps on the moon. This year on 20th July is the 40th anniversary of that first landing and those immortal lines. I was (relatively) young at the time and space travel and exploration was the big and regular news of the day. As I watched the show I began to wonder if any of the young audience had ever seen any of this archive footage and would it mean anything to them. After all apart from the odd shuttle launch it appears to us earthlings that there is little going on in the heavens. Besides the moon is small beer when you can have adventures in galaxies far, far away courtesy of computer generated animation at your local multiplex or on your X Box, Playstation or whatever gadget is coming out for Christmas.

Apparently 2009 is the year of Astronomy. This coincides with Homecoming but as yet no sign of ETs warp factor eighting it up the A9. Wee Stories thought they’d be on a winner – The year of Astronomy! A chance for ‘One Giant Leap’ to be booked for all the big science festivals and celebrations – but nothing, it seems it’s not only cultural ‘years of ‘ that lack funding. Where is the production of Brecht’s ‘Life of Galileo’ or a remounting of Vanishing Point’s ‘A Brief History of Time’?

Somebody somewhere has missed a trick – science and arts would appear to some to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, not that the ancient Greeks would agree – it’s all about creation, pushing limits and questioning, and over 40 years since the release of ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ (1967) and ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ (1968).

Charioteer Theatre: International Laboratory, Piacenza, Italy
18-24 May 2009

Background

Charioteer Theatre was founded, by Italian actress and director Laura Pasetti, in, 2005 with the aim to offer actors opportunities for professional development.

Nick Fearne (right) in Piacenza with Laura Pasetti (Charioteer) and Paolo Dosi, L’Assessore (one of Piacenza’s Cultural Officers).

Charioteer Theatre focuses on the acting process through laboratory form where actors have the chance to engage with the creative process and to explore their potentials within it, experimenting with methods and techniques that could increase their knowledge of the stage and improve their interpretative skills.

Charioteer Theatre intends to re-establish the Classics as an incredible resource for inspiration and a solid starting point for the development of an actor in his/her profession.

In working with the Classics they also hope to contribute to a broader range of culture in Scotland and aim to attract and expand audiences by encouraging actors’ discipline and skill, thereby enabling performances of inspirational quality.

Ultimately Charioteer Theatre has a vision to form an Acting School, based on these principles, which will serve as a resource for Master classes, for productions and for community outreach.

As Arts Development Officer for Moray Council I have supported (e.g. providing venues, help source funding) and advised the company as they have developed their work. Over the last few years the company has run a number of very successful laboratories, usually lasting a week and working on classic themes e.g. Shakespeare, Commedia Dell’Arte etc and staged productions of work by Beckett, Goldoni and Shakespeare.

Laura Pasetti trained at the Acting School at the Piccolo Theatre in Milan where she now regularly teaches. Laura’s links with Piccolo Theatre have enabled Charioteer to take their productions to Milan. In 2006 they visited with Beckett’s ‘Happy Days’ and in 2009 with ‘Romeo and Juliet – are dead’. In 2006 Piccolo Theatre invited me to attend the performances and observe the work of the theatre. Again in 2009 I visited Piccolo having adapted Romeo and Juliet for 3 actors for Charioteer.

The success of Romeo and Juliet (53 performances to school parties) has meant that Charioteer has been able to develop its work in Italy – Romeo & Juliet will visit Piacenza and Modena in 2010 and a new production will be staged at Piccolo Theatre, Milan.

Enrico Marcotti is Artistic Director of the Societa Filodrammatica Piacentina (local name for Piacenza), he is also president of a critics’ circle in northern Italy and he attended, with a group of students, Charioteer’s Beckett production in Milan in 2006. As a result the idea for ‘Shakespeare’s Situations’ was born – a Shakespeare Laboratory working with Italian (8) and Scottish based student actors (4).

Theatre in Piacenza

The main theatre in Piacenza is Teatro Municipale Verdi, a beautiful building opened in 1804 very much, as the name would suggest, as an opera house. I was fortunate enough on the Friday night to be given my own box for the last performance of Rossini’s ‘Il Viaggio A Reims’ – a great experience. Teatro Filodrammatici was the home to the Charioteer project and is a 300-seat theatre founded in 1825 by Maria Luigia d’Austria, although the site dates from 1500. The Society Filodrammatici obtained the building in 1908. After a number of closures it was reopened in 2000 following restoration work.

From what I can understand of the local government set up the Teatro Municipale is owned by the city and funded by city, region and state. The ‘Filo’ is owned by the society and receives support through the main theatre- Diego Maj, Artistic Director of Teatro Municipale was a key support in the project happening (and getting my opera ticket!). The Filo’s Artistic Director, Enrico Marcotti, runs the Filo and the Society, which appears to be a highly regarded amateur organisation that not only stage productions but also runs classes with highly respected professionals. I think in a way it is similar to somewhere like the Questors in London. I believe the organisation is supported financially through the city but I am not sure to what level – however you will see from the attached pages from the tourist brochure that both theatres are regarded as part of the cultural fabric of Piacenza.

I had been due to meet both the vice-Mayor and Paolo Dosi, L’Assessore (one of Piacenza’s Cultural Officers), however the meeting kept being moved back and I was only able to meet Paolo for a photo call and 5 minute chat (through interpreter!) before curtain up on the Sunday.

Method

Selecting a number of duologues from Shakespeare’s plays Charioteer ran a week’s laboratory in Piacenza in October 2008 and February 2009, and in Findhorn at the end of April 2009. The Findhorn lab included a number of Italian students. For two weeks in May Laura worked with the Scottish based actors that would be going to Italy plus actors ‘standing in’ for the Italian actors that would be involved in the project. In the week beginning 18th May the company of 8 Italian actors (a mix of professional and students) and Charioteer’s 4 actors came together in Piacenza to work intensively together before giving two performances in the Teatro Comunale Filodrammatici on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th May.

The 12 participants worked on scenes in combinations of English, Italian and English and Italian:

Henry V – prologue, English

Romeo & Juliet – Italian

Measure for Measure – English/Italian

Macbeth – English

Othello – English/Italian

Richard III – English/Italian

Taming of the Shrew – Italian

Hamlet – English/Italian

In Measure for Measure, Angelo started off in English with Isabella speaking Italian. During the course of the scene (in which Angelo offers to spare Isabell’s brother in return for sexual favours) Alan Alpenfelt, a bilingual actor, switched to Italian whilst the young Italian actress delivered her lines in English – although she had limited English she had not just learnt the Shakespearean lines but delivered them with understanding and clarity.

In Othello, Lyn Dalgetty’s Iago (English) sits fishing on a river bank with Othello (Italian) – the tranquillity of the setting disturbed as Iago sows the seeds of doubt and jealousy in Othello’s mind.

In Richard III, Clare Waddington’s Lady Anne was ‘wooed’ by Jamie Spencer’s English Richard before being usurped by his Italian counterpart only to reappear in the balcony of the theatre.

Clare appeared again as she and a female Italian actress washed clothes as they delivered Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ – the English lines first being echoed in Italian before being delivered simultaneously over each other.

By the time I arrived in Piacenza rehearsals were running from 2pm or 3pm until 10pm or 11pm – followed by a few well-earned beers! Piacenza was unseasonably hot with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees, so actually being in a cool, dark theatre during the heat of the afternoon was no bad thing.

An obvious challenge for this type of project – showcasing scenes from Shakespeare – is how to link them, and then how to present them as more than rehearsed readings i.e. a show that will bring in a paying audience.

The premise for ‘Shakespeare Situations’ was that the year is 2019, all theatres in Europe have been closed for 10 years and all performances banned. Once a year clandestine groups of actors break into disused theatres in order to stage illegal performances. As the audience enters the theatre posters are covered, rubble covers the floor, plastic sheeting covers columns and balconies, props and costume lie discarded, a chalk sign says ‘Teatro Chiuso’ (Theatre closed).

In the darkness and alarm clock goes off and is silenced by someone emerging from a pile of chairs and bags. He realises it’s the day of the performance and wakes the rest of the company who have been sleeping amongst the discarded props and costumes. Suddenly they are startled as others come into the theatre. They hid but slowly emerge to discover it’s more actors, from Scotland! The group has to decide what to perform – Pirandello, Wilde, Agatha Christie! A Scottish actress produces a huge tome – the complete works of Shakespeare. Of course, they will do scenes from Shakespeare – a truly international playwright.

The scenes that follow (listed above) are each given their own style, situation and design – there are males playing females and scenes done using a mix of Italian and English. When English is spoken the Italian text is screened above the stage. A good way of learning Italian, and interesting when the Italian audience reads a funny line before it is said.

What is interesting is how well this works, particularly in’To be or not to be’ with the Italian actress echoing the English lines and then speaking simultaneously. Although I felt the pace was (puposely) very slow it did create its own rhythm – something that cannot be achieved in iambic pentameter through Italian – the language of opera, not Shakespeare.

The first performance was at 9pm on Saturday 23 May. For 225 people to come to such an event on a Saturday night says a lot about Shakespeare and the Italian appetite for ‘culture’ – after all this was an unknown company from Scotland present scenes rather than a whole play. The performance was enthusiastically received – the audience obviously wanted the cast to come out for a final curtain call but, in the spirit of the idea, the police had rumbled the performance and the actors had fled.

Unfortunately the performance on the Sunday had to be moved from 9pm to 4pm but this still drew an audience of 70 (including several critics).

In fact this project seemed to have created a lot of interest as it was the first time that actors from two different countries had come together in a project like this in Piacenza. There was much press coverage (enclosed) – not just in terms of reviews but in the announcement of my imminent arrival from Moray!

Charioteer were keen that I, or somebody, should experience the project first hand in order to see how such an international collaboration can impact on the development of the company and the potential for continued and increased work by Moray based theatre companies in an international context.

It was clear to me that in a relatively short space of time a high quality and unique piece of work had been created that developed and stretched both the professional and non-professional actors. There was genuine excitement and respect for this small company coming from a small town (Forres) in Moray, Scotland. The generosity, friendliness and openness of the hosts was overwhelming. Nothing was too much trouble and if something was needed (prop, sound effect etc) it was there. Local interest in terms of press, audience and local government was keen and genuine.

Obviously all concerned are keen to continue the relationship through a visit to Moray by the Italian participants. It would appear there is the willingness and ability to source funding in Italy to bring the group over. Charioteer would individually host the Italians. All that then would be needed is a venue and some hospitality and I would hope that HI-Arts and Moray Council could work together to help put these in place.

© Nick Fearne, 2009