Viva Lewes Issue #151 April 2019

ON THIS MONTH: THEATRE
Redder
What became of Little Red Riding Hood?
“It’s a series of poems
about Red Riding Hood
at whatever age I am
when I perform it,”
says Gus Watcham of
her one-woman play,
Redder. “This year
she’s 66. She’s looking
back at her past. She’s
looking for love. She’s
trying to understand her
childhood. It unravels
some fairytale myths and sort of rewrites them.”
I’ve interviewed Gus once before; that time
about her involvement with the Three Score
Dance Company, a contemporary dance troupe
for those aged 60+ which, she tells me, has
reignited her creative impetus.
“There’s nothing like a deadline, I’d always
been a great one for saying ‘I’ll do that later’.
When you get older, there is no later. I realised,
if I want to set something up, the time is now.
It’s great to start a new project in later life.
And a little bit of terror is so good for you. If
you can get through that and show your work
to somebody, it’s literally encouraging: it gives
you courage.”
Gus has been working with director Mark
C. Hewitt, video artist Abigail Norris and
performance artist Isobel Smith, and describes
Redder as an ongoing reflection on aging and
discovery. “In the piece, Red Riding Hood
suddenly finds herself on the threshold of old
age and I think this is what happens to us. We
suddenly go, ‘Oh god. I’m here. Now what do I
do?’ And in many ways nothing has changed at
all, it’s all still going on in our minds. I really
liked the idea of this little old lady marching
Photo by Lizzie Lower
along, still with her red
riding hood on.”
Gus has been holding
tea parties with older
people, sharing stories
and asking them to
reflect on how they
feel about aging, and
how they perceived old
people when they were
young. “Of course, they
all say that they feel no
different at all. And those people that they used
to think of as old? Well, they don’t seem so
different when you get there yourself.
“Redder is quite grown up and a bit rude in
places. Red Riding Hood has a problem with
body hair. Her mother, who was married
to the Wood Cutter, found her life at home
in the woods very boring and spent a lot of
time hanging out with wolves. Enough said.
Someone suggested that I might perform it in
care homes, and I thought, ‘I can’t take this
into a care home!’ But they said, ‘look, the
people going into the care system now are the
rock and roll generation. They don’t want to
hear about Andy Pandy.’
“This whole thing started when I joined Three
Score Dance. It’s been a knock-on process. I’m
braver. I’m doing things that I’ve never done
before. Things I always wished that I’d done.
‘It’s too late now’ is one of the most overused
excuses. I’ve discovered that it really isn’t. I’m
discovering stories of unstoppable older people
all of the time.” Lizzie Lower
Friday 26th, 7.45pm, All Saints Centre. Tickets
£7 in advance, £9 on the door. leweslivelit.co.uk.
littleredder.wordpress.com
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