Theatre? Art? Rather it’s an intoxicating blend of the two, patented by the experiential force that is Punchdrunk...
A complex blend of literary and emotional inspirations, 39 performers, a murder story, and an audience set on a mysterious adventure within an unknown space. Theatre? Art? Rather it’s an intoxicating blend of the two, patented by the experiential force that is Punchdrunk. Their latest show, The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, opens this month in Temple Studios, Paddington, in partnership with the National Theatre, and promises to continue the tradition of immersive bafflement and wonder that has drawn audiences around the world for the past thirteen years. Helmed by artistic director Felix Barrett and co-director and choreographer Maxine Doyle, the company’s theatrical creations force audiences out of their chairs and into a surreal sensory world of magic, fear and active choices, following – both literally and metaphorically – the curves and corridors of a detailed and shifting narrative that melts away and reforms according to their own decisions.
Little can be said about the forthcoming production for fear of spoiling the surprise, but already the excitement is palpable – a clear indicator being the 45,000 tickets already sold. Ahead of its opening later this month, we spoke to director and choreographer Doyle about the inception of the latest project, the relationship between theatre, performance and art, and the thrill of creating a world where an audience can truly let go of their consciousness.
What inspired The Drowned Man?
Several things really. Firstly, it’s inspired by the play Woyzeck because of the non-linear fabrication and what it says about the human condition. It holds those juicy themes of love, obsession and jealousy, as well as the status of hierarchy, though we've positioned them within the context of 60s, hinterland Hollywood, drawing from Nathanael West’s book, The Day of the Locust – a story of desperate characters on the edge of society who are trying to make their way into the world of Hollywood. Whilst there is this interesting parallel that we can draw between The Day of the Locust and Woyzeck, there’s also the building that plays such a massive role in our work through how our characters can explore and explode the text in this idea of Hollywood, across the four levels of a very large building in Paddington.
"The sense of being alive and being present is something that we really encourage our audience to discover. It is the heartbeat of our work."
I was reading an article by Lyn Gardner on art and theatre, in which she spoke about how people are often attempting to meld the two, but that Punchdrunk was the exception as in its combination of so many disciplines, it is essentially a genre in itself. Would you agree with this statement?
Well, I’d like to agree with that. I think on our end, there is such an equality of status on the artistic elements in the work, such as the lighting, the sound, the choreography, the physicality... I guess you can say that about a lot of theatre, but for us it’s really about the relationship of all those elements and how we can make the biggest possible impact on our audiences. We draw very much on installation and playing with the way in which an individual engages with an artwork. From drawing from all these different forms, I feel that it is difficult to categorise the work, which is something we wish for.
Involving your audience instead of placing them in a passive position is another interesting factor in your work. Do you wish to challenge your audiences?
Our ethos is to try and put the audience in the centre of the experience. A massive part of the form itself is that the audience members are on their legs, walking around a building, making their own choices, making their own decisions, and following their instincts. By putting an audience in a situation where they have to make choices physically with their body, it unlocks them from the typically psychologically heavy position of a spectator in the theatre. We do wish to challenge our audience on many different levels, but we also want to have them make decisions. It’s our mission to challenge our audiences and take them out of their comfort zone, with the intention being to maximise the experience, yet also offer them the opportunity to really let go, to let go of their consciousness and really feel the work.
It’s interesting to think about because when you enter a theatre, you assume escapism but you are in fact put in a seat and set to thinking about what’s happening. With Punchdrunk, you are in fact losing yourself entirely, in an experience that you don't have time to consciously analyse.
Yes well I think that’s very important. Much of the work we do when making the show with the cast is on presence and being present. The structuring of the work is really vigorous, because the way the stories are laid out and the way that the audience encounters them is random. I think that sense of spontaneity is really important, also the sense that they are the only person encountering that event at the time, be it opening a drawer or meeting a character. That sense of being alive and being present is something that we really encourage our audience to discover. It is the heartbeat of our work. There is something quite hedonistic about it in that desire to feel alive and touch but there is also the possibility for them to take responsibility for their reactions.
Obviously you can’t say too much on this, but is there anything you are particularly excited about with this upcoming production?
At this point, we’re right in the trauma of creating the show. What I think is most exciting though is the cumulative power of the work as a whole; when all of the different elements come together and when the audience becomes a fluid and dynamic character within the bigger picture.
The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable is at Temple Studios from June 20 to December 30.
