Modern theatre: Physical and visual theatre
Shockheaded Peter, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London, England, 1999
In the 1980s companies began to experiment with a more physical type of theatre. They wanted to get away from the restraints of realistic and naturalistic drama and create an energetic visual theatre that combined strong design with choreography and physical imagery.
Influenced by the work of Philippe Gaulier and Jacques Lecoq, companies such as Theatre de Complicite applied their style to the reworking of classic texts and created new work in collaboration with writers.
This departure was not completely new - in the 1960s Peter Brook had become interested in a more physical and visual theatre. He had been inspired by Japanese Noh theatre and influenced by the work of Adrienne Mnouchkine's Theatre du Soleil in Paris. Earlier innovators in this area included Bauhaus, Dadaist and surrealist performers, choreographer Rudolf Laban and directors Meyerhold and Jerzy Grotowski and Richard Schechozer.
In the 1980s and 1990s companies like Forced Entertainment sought to create a theatre reflecting the collision of styles and bombardment of imagery that pervaded the late 20th century. 'Some Confusions in the Law' and 'About Love' gave expression to a bleak post-Thatcher landscape.
In the 1990s young experimental companies such as Volcano and Frantic Assembly developed a unique style, fusing physical theatre, choreography and text. The cross-over between dance and theatre was also explored by dance companies such as DV8 whose work bears resemblance to that of Pina Bausch.
Companies have also combined other visual media with theatre. Forkbeard Fantasy explores the comic dynamic between film and live performance, allowing actors to merge, apparently seamlessly, from real life into film.
Street of Crocodiles, 1999
Theatre de Complicite's 'The Street of Crocodiles' opened at the Royal National Theatre in 1992. The play was based on the semi-autobiographical stories of the Polish writer Bruno Schulz and revolves round his childhood in south east Poland, and the eccentricities of his family, particularly his father.
This image is of Cesar Sarachu as Joseph, the autobiographical character, and his father played by Matthew Scurfield. The company devised a show that was neither a straight reporting of Schulz's short life, nor a straight dramatisation of his writing, but an evocation of both. The fantastical, surreal and poetic elements of Schulz's writing were theatricalised. The way in which events could spiral off into unreality gave the production a dreamlike (even nightmarish) quality. Director Simon McBurney explained how the rehearsal process involved trying different ways of retelling Schulz's stories, sometimes using just words, sometimes using none at all, sometimes mixing languages or using rhythm and music in place of text.
Street of Crocodiles, 1999
The Street of Crocodiles, which premiered in 1992, was one of Theatre de Complicite's most successful productions.
Theatre de Complicite is one of the few 'physical theatre' companies to have quickly earned success in the West End as well as on the fringe. Many of its productions are devised by the company and, according to artistic director Simon McBurney, the starting point of a new project might be a written text or story, but it might equally be a visual or musical 'text'. 'So when rehearsing a piece I do not have a method, no single approach.' This experimental way of rehearsing depends on a high level of ensemble playing, (hence the name of the company) and the discipline that that requires, combined with the imagination and playfulness that allows ideas to emerge through improvisation.
Pool (No Water), 2006
Pool (No Water) by Mark Ravenhill, Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett of Frantic Assembly, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, London, England, 2006
Theatre Rites exhibition 2001
'We stepped into a world of life-size puppets which we could control, bean bag models, a maze made out of tape measures and a fluorescent flying saucer.' This was one young visitor's description of an interactive exhibition put on at the Theatre Museum in 2001 by the outstanding children's theatre company Theatre Rites.
Founded by Penny Bernard in 1995, the company works with sculptors, artists, poets and video artists to create unusual and contemporary landscapes, inhabited by the puppets of Sue Buckmaster and, of course, the visitors. Theatre Rites' sets are created from recycled materials and everyday objects are transformed into magical animated worlds. Children do not just sit and watch, but can play with puppets and interactive sculptures. Their work is so appealing that it was not just the young children who got involved, teenagers and adults found the exhibition irresistible too.
Theatre Rites exhibition, 2001
'We stepped into a world of life-size puppets which we could control, bean bag models, a maze made out of tape measures and a fluorescent flying saucer.' This was one young visitor's description of an interactive exhibition put on at the Theatre Museum in 2001 by the outstanding children's theatre company Theatre Rites.
Founded by Penny Bernard in 1995, the company works with sculptors, artists, poets and video artists to create unusual and contemporary landscapes, inhabited by the puppets of Sue Buckmaster and, of course, the visitors. Theatre Rites' sets are created from recycled materials and everyday objects are transformed into magical animated worlds. Children do not just sit and watch, but can play with puppets and interactive sculptures. Their work is so appealing that it was not just the young children who got involved, teenagers and adults found the exhibition irresistible too.
Viktor, Tanztheater Wuppertal
Pina Bausch is one of the major figures in contemporary theatre. As the name of her company implies, her works are 'dance-theatre' (Tanz is German for dance) not pure dance. While her pieces look random and improvised, they are not. They need as highly trained performers and are as set as any conventional dance work.
Viktor evolved as a co-production with a Roman theatre and took its inspiration from Roman life. The stage was framed on three sides by earthworks from which a man shovelled earth onto the stage. Some saw this as a reference to the Seven Hills of Rome, some to archaeological 'excavation', some as 'digging' into memory. Other features were two sheep, an auction of junk and another of dogs, and café scenes with lots of pretend eating. In this scene a girl has 'become' a fountain - her mouth was constantly filled with water which she jetted into a bucket in which people then washed their hands. 'I don't talk about meanings,' Bausch once said, 'because the audience is part of the creation'.
Viktor, Tanztheater Wuppertal
Pina Bausch is one of the major figures in contemporary theatre. As the name of her company implies, her works are 'dance-theatre' (Tanz is German for dance) not pure dance. While her pieces look random and improvised, they are not. They need as highly trained performers and are as set as any conventional dance work.
This photograph is from her 1986 work Viktor. Bausch makes no specific statement. She mixes song, dance and speech. Her works are like life in that they seem made up of random images and events, following no rational sequence and often appearing to make no sense. Their power lies in the cumulative effect and in what each individual member of the audience brings from his or her own experience. 'Interpretation,' Bausch said, 'always depends on the way you watch, and there is always another way to watch it'.
Architects of Fantasy, Forkbeard Fantasy
Forkbeard Fantasy is a theatre and film company which has been touring their shows, films, exhibitions and special events since 1974. Their theatre shows combine comedy with special effects, wild mechanical sets, outsize characters and their trademark mix of film, animation and live performance.
Architects of Fantasy was an exhibition commissioned by the Theatre Museum in 1999 featuring some of the highlights of their material from the last 25 years. Many of the contraptions and people were mechanically operated and some were exhibited at various states of completion to demonstrate how they were built. These objects, often characters in their own right, included large scale puppets, animatronic creatures and strange machines. All had featured in touring stage shows where they had come alive as part of the action.
Architects of Fantasy, Forkbeard Fantasy
Forkbeard Fantasy is a theatre and film company which has been touring their shows, films, exhibitions and special events since 1974. Their theatre shows combine comedy with special effects, wild mechanical sets, outsize characters and their trademark mix of film, animation and live performance.
Architects of Fantasy was an exhibition commissioned by the Theatre Museum in 1999 featuring some of the highlights of their material from the last 25 years. Many of the contraptions and people were mechanically operated and some were exhibited at various states of completion to demonstrate how they were built. These objects, often characters in their own right, included large scale puppets, animatronic creatures and strange machines. All had featured in touring stage shows where they had come alive as part of the action.
Anthony was a life-size marionette with flailing limbs, a manic expression and rolling eyes. He was one of the star patients in Dr Smallman's Nursing Home in 'Hypochondria', the 1987 production by Forkbeard Fantasy. Made by Penny Saunders, he was the doctor's model patient in every sense of the word, consisting of so much spare-part surgery it was unclear how alive he really was. From the 1960s onwards, British theatre experienced an explosion of new kinds of performance - street theatre, carnival, visual theatre and live art, which challenged traditional ideas about theatre. Besides traditional actors, these performances sometimes used large-scale animated constructions - part puppet, part human.
Shockheaded Peter, 1999
Shockheaded Peter was created in 1998 by a theatre company called Cultural Industry and directed by Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott. It was first staged at the Lyric Hammersmith before its rave reviews secured a transfer to the West End.
The show was inspired by 'Struwwelpeter', a German book of gruesome children's stories by Heinrich Hoffmann published in 1844. In his moral tales, children receive the most horrible punishments for minor transgressions. The boy who sucks his thumbs has them chopped off, and the girl who plays with matches is burnt to death. (Hoffmann himself described the collection as 'pretty stories and funny pictures!')
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Sun 22 January 2012–Sun 25 March 2012
SPECIAL EVENT: NVAP has documented over 250 theatre performances ranging from West-End hits and pantomimes to musicals and physical theatre. To celebrate 20 years of NVAP, the V&A proudly presents a selection of NVAP recordings documenting British theatre.
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