Viva Lewes Issue #140 May 2018

ON THIS MONTH: FESTIVAL
Gob Squad
Thinking inside the box
What is beauty? What is youth? What does it mean
to be old? These are among the questions posed
by theatre collective Gob Squad in their latest
work, Creation (Pictures for Dorian), which comes to
the Attenborough Centre, as part of the Brighton
Festival. Known internationally for producing
challenging and experimental theatre shows, the
Berlin-based company are now looking for local
residents to collaborate with on the UK premiere
of their new show.
“This is a new venture for us,” explains core squad
member Sharon Smith. “We’re looking for three
people over 67 and three people under 22 who
either aspire to be on stage or have spent their lives
on stage. Their body is their currency and they have
invited the gaze, they’re used to being looked at, or
that’s where they want to be.”
Participants will spend two days preparing for their
role in the show. The details are kept a secret, but
it would seem this offer of the limelight might not
be for everyone. “We want to treat these guests as
art objects. We will manipulate and objectify them,
scrutinise them very closely through a camera, or
critique them as we might do a work of art. We will
play with taking away their agency, but ultimately,
I’m sure they will rebel in some way.”
Gob Squad came together as a theatre collective in
the 90s and has since produced dozens of shows,
often featuring audience interaction. One of their
earliest pieces, Close Enough To Kiss, had the performers
inside a mirrored box, with the audience peering
in. “It was a shifting two-way mirror, so sometimes
the audience could only see themselves,” recalls
Sharon. “But sometimes they could see through to
where this group of young and crazy people were
having a party, taking drugs, dressing up. I don’t
know, like some sort of fish tank.”
Twenty years later they decided to bring back the
box, this time as a means of framing and revealing
participants, as if they were paintings. The inspiration
for the show came from the Oscar Wilde novel,
The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as the group’s own
reflections on getting older.
“We wanted to do another piece using the box with
Gob Squad as middle-aged people, which we now
are. So we started off with the topic of ageing and
visibility. And running alongside that was this desire
to work with the book. There are parallel themes:
vanity and morality, ageing and making a pact with
the devil. If you could, would you extend your life?
Would you live forever or stay beautiful?”
Though the participants’ role is unclear, and even
sounds a little sinister, Gob Squad shouldn’t have
any problem recruiting show-offs in a place like
Brighton.
“We’re trying to grab something that’s human,
simple and universal. Whoever agrees to this has to
come on our journey; we’d never force anyone to do
it. It’s a playful conversation. And yes, it’s going to
look amazing.” Ben Bailey
Attenborough Centre, 23rd-27th May, £15/12.50
Email melissa@attenboroughcentre.com to apply as a
guest in the show
Photo by Jade Mainade
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