Cotton Wool

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Cotton Wool which is the debut production for Buckle For Dust, a new theatre company set up by my ex-boss from the Broadway, Claire Birch. Cotton Wool is a piece of new writing by Ali Taylor, who Claire tells me is a man. For some reason that surprised me.

Cotton Wool received rave reviews in both the Times and Time Out - and four stars from both rightly so. The Guardian review was less kind at 3 stars. This really was something special.

The play centres around two scottish brothers in a modern retelling of the Selkie myth. Selkies are mythical creatures (from Scotland but also apparent in Irish mythology as well) - a kind of seal that can take on human form.

In the various myths, the nature of these animals and their powers changes. In this play, the myth is that people who die "before their time" are rescued by the selkies and turned into one of their own kind until such time that they are ready to continue their lives again, at which point, they morph back into humans and swim ashore. The brothers in the play have recently lost their mother and in a post-wake drinking binge on a beach believe they see her body (or at least a body) floating in the water. In the days that follow the boys try and trace the body's journey across the bay, which just happens to coincide with a seal spotting. Is the seal their mother? Was the body her? Did they imagine the whole thing? Throw into the mix a seemingly runaway girl from London who they befriend and you have a play is an intoxicating blend of fantasy, real life and black comedy.

Cotton Wool was presented at Theatre503 - a small fringe theatre situated above a pub near Clapham Junction. Theatre503 has a reputation for housing stunning, challenging and new works of theatre. As such it provided the perfect venue - small, claustraphobic and intimate. The set designed by Polly Sullivan featured a raked stage of curved "concrete steps" and gauze indicative of sails (or waves) which was both stark and expansive yet confined and intimidating. Stunning lighting design by Tim Mascal and a fair deal of haze made this set conjure everything from the waves of the sea to the pier side, steps of a town house and the delapidated family home of brothers Callum and Gussie. It really was a very fluid and organic production because of this.

The soundscape (the work of James Drew) also contributed to the atmosphere. The presence of the selkie myth was sounded through a single synth tone, perfect for a play that could be described as a "siren song of grief and longing". Not all of the music/sound choices blended well - a recurring marching drum roll seemed at odds with the action and the flowing nature of the other production elements.

Moving to the talent - Callum and Gussie as played by Joseph Arkley and Owen Whitelaw respectively really portrayed brothers with very different personalities and in different places developmentally who shared a common and incredibly important bond. The Stage Review of the play hit the nail on the head when it described the play as "the portrayal of a generation that is too easily condemned". Whitelaw tended to lead dramatic and comic moments but this was more due to Taylor's brilliant writing and the allocation of witty one-liners than it was the actors. Arkley's Callum was beautifully underplayed for both laughs and the brief moments of pathos which really made this play. Just as the play veered towards cheesy clichees, Taylor through his writing and Arkley through his portrayal managed to divert expectation to more organic and thought-provoking ends. I believe this was probably intentional on Taylor's part - the play often refered to cheesy chat up lines or clicheed behaviour. Holding her own in a very masculine play was Victoria Bavister playing the mixed up Harriet. Although not always milking the more comic lines, Victoria kept her performance real, tender and ultimately very believable.

What really struck me about this play and the actors in it, is that the characters were real despite the very odd situation with which they were faced. The Stage review is right, this isn't particularly challenging theatre, in terms of the story line but that isn't what is important here. Taylor's play avoids the obvious pitfalls of being too depressing or going to the easy tragic ending - instead what you are left with is a highly realistic and inspiring piece of theatre.

Lisa Spirling's direction was clearly focused on an overall experience and her fixation with the bigger picture left the audience with an impression that they had witnessed an important moment in the character's lives. Spirling is also a Royal Holloway graduate (REPRESENT!). The pace was slick, letting up for the more tender moments and both arguments and the more stylised areas of the text were approached with equal attention to detail, committment and ultimately realism. While the audience didn't pick up on several great one liners in the performance I saw, this could well have been down to a decision on Spirling's part to highlight moments of black comedy or simply to make the point that sometimes we all make (unfunny) jokes at the most inappropriate moments. Like other great works and other great performances, I certainly felt that the audience were supposed to feel a sense of unease as they questioned "would it be ok to laugh at that?". It wasn't quite there on Thursday night - I felt a lot went over people's heads. A little rushed delivery may have contributed to this, but as I have already aserted it is Spirling's focus on the bigger picture that is most rewarding here.

Critics hauled the show up on the placement of the interval. I agree that perhaps it should have been done straight through but on the other hand, if there was going to be an interval I think that was the best place to put it.

Overall I was seriously impressed especially as I am not a massive fan of plays or small scale fringe theatre. Buckle for Dust have identified themselves as a serious contender and I am glad that critics have already latched on to this company, which I believe is something of a star in the making.

Ps. Loving the whole playscript/programme idea. I have a great souvenir of a wonderful night out.

Get Over It

So Kevin Spacey has a rant basically saying that:

Reality casting shows that cast roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber productions promote those productions and result in their commercial success literally providing a high profile 13 week advertising campaign. There hasn't been a reality show that has promoted (Old Vic) plays in the same way.This results in an unfair advantage of such shows.

My reaction is this...

Reality casting shows are going to generate interest in the shows they centre upon - that's really a given, in the same way that when a bar or restaurant, person, cultural site or other place of interest is given TV profile. Basically anything featured on TV will receive some amount of interest. That's a by-product of putting something on TV.

West End shows don't need reality tv casting to be successful and more successful than plays - they always have been. That is because musicals are a populist form of entertainment. What grinds my gears is that theatre people and those involved in places like the National Theatre, Royal Court and Old Vic look down on the West End as though it is frothy hedonism of chintzy, crass and generally a tacky watering down of a sacred artform (they may have a point and generally love to make themselves look "arty" and exclusive. The upshot of that is that musicals are more popular because they appeal to the masses. Your works of theatre don't. You made your bed, you've got to lie in it. Yes a 13 week TV advertising campaign will undoubtedly help to sell a show - but it has to be a show that lots of people want to go and see. If you look at the shows which have been used so far they are revivals of the most successful and widely known shows of all time (Sound of Music, Oliver! and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). These shows, as the producers who have wheeled them out time and time again have proved, will sell no matter what. If Andrew Lloyd Webber would have tried casting The Woman In White, I reckon it wouldn't have worked at all either as a TV show nor as a marketing ploy.

Pretentious arty drama and institutions like the National or Old Vic get Arts Council funding and have access to - this is not available to West End producers. You can't really blame a commercial producer for being, well, commercial. There's a reason that places like the National, the Royal Court and the Old Vic exist. There's a reason they are the size they are and in the locations they are. There's a reason for the programme they present and the level of subsidy they receive from organisations such as the Arts Council.

Most arty professionals condemned reality casting when it first arrived as undermining the professional casting process and making a mockery of the years of training and experience that actors acquire before landing those kinds of high profile roles. Suddenly people like Spacey are asking "Where's my reality casting show?" - You didn't want one! You found the idea abhorrent. The day you are happy to employ a nobody off the street in a leading role instead of wheeling out people like Maggie Smith, Judy Dench, Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian and yourself (all of which are amazing don't get me wrong!) then you can have your own reality casting show. If you want to stick to the old boys school of casting, then you can stick to the old boys school of marketing and the old boys school of box office grosses too. You chose your way, don't criticise someone else for a different approach when they make a success out of it.

There was a reality casting show that didn't centre around musical theatre. The Plays The Thing which saw leading producer Sonia Friedman stage a play by (potentially) anyone was the second reality "casting" of it's type after Operatunity. However, it was a commercial producer involved in the process and there was a certain amount of risk taking involved which Sonia Friedman Productions/ATG had to bear. Are people like Kevin Spacey just bitter that they didn't have this money making, profile boosting idea first? There's nothing to stop someone like Kevin Spacey putting forward an idea to the BBC or using serious industry clout to get something similar up and running (even if it is just a docusoap). I'm sure there are TV production companies, networks or stations who would snap up the idea particularly with someone like Spacey attached to it.

Plays are not the stuff of Saturday Night TV entertainment. What would you have contestants do week after week? Different acting techniques? Vote for the person who you thought did the best in the laban workshop? Give me a break. Can you really imagine Kevin Spacey sitting on a panel of judges saying "Well Charlene, I thought your portrayal of the character using Stanislavski's psychophysical approach was very entertaining, but I really want to see more 'outside in' from you next week ok?". Meanwhile John Barrowman on his right exclaims "I loved it! It was Brechtian, Brechtian, Brechtian!". A sea of corduroy wearing senior citizens clap politely and poncy students rub themselves excitedly at how intellectual the whole thing is. It is also much harder for Joe Public to discern who is more talented. When West End Wannabes hit bum notes even Sharon and Tracey in Scunthorpe know they aint gonna be able to hack it. Let's face it, the work of places like the Young Vic is not going to excite millions of viewers to pick up the phone to save their favourite method actor. Give them Graham Norton, a tonne of camp, Denise Van Outen trying to give singing technique critique, John Barrowman saying inappropriately "straight" things to the female contestants (if you're gay apparently you don't sound like a perv) and let Andrew Lloyd Webber sail through the embarrassing things that the TV show's producers in good spirits with your blessing.