Ensemble

INTERVIEW: TIM EDGE (ONE OF THE BOYS) | London, Playground Theatre

Interview

Tim Edge is the self-professed rabble-rouser and writer of his acclaimed debut play Under The Black Rock (2023). His second play, One of the Boys (2024), is running at the Playground Theatre in West London, 1 – 26 October, 2024.

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— What inspired you to write One of the Boys?

Having been brought up in a household surrounded by women, I have always been tuned in to female voices and struggles. Also, I have worked in high-pressure environments, like those depicted in the play, where inappropriate male attitudes and behaviours made me feel deeply uncomfortable. I wrote the play because sexism ruins lives and careers. Ideally, I want men to see the play, and to change their behaviour.

— Now that we are all working from home, the days of office sexism are behind us; aren’t they?

Not a bit of it! Although the headline characteristics of office sexism are less blatant, its effects and reach are more insidious; particularly through the use of social media. My daughters, who are making their own way in the workplace, tell me stories to indicate that much still needs to be done before women can feel secure and valued in all work settings.

— To what extent is One of the Boys in the same style as your last play, Under The Black Rock?

Obviously, it’s a very different subject matter — the Northern Ireland Troubles to the corporate world — but very much the same style; which I characterise as gasps, laughs, and a punchy plot that races along. Ultimately though, the play is designed to confront, to engage and to get people talking. Our audiences so far tell us that this is being achieved!

— What’s next for Tim Edge?

A break to re-set and re-charge! I’m delighted, though, that my production company has been able to offer opportunities to a number of talented actors and creatives over the last two years. On the writing front, a third play called That Look is in development. I am also writing a detective novel, inspired by the works of Raymond Chandler and Derek Raymond.

One of the Boys plays at the Playground Theatre in West London, 1 – 26 October, 2024.

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LIFT FESTIVAL 2024 | London, multiple venues

Recommended

LIFT, London’s bi-annual international festival of theatre, brings joyful, daring and unforgettable theatre from around the world to London, using the whole of the city as the stage.  Every two years, LIFT presents a festival full of bold and relevant culture, international perspectives, and thought-provoking performances. The festival’s adventurous-ness is theatrical yeast (The Guardian, 2018), meaning LIFT has done more to influence the growth and adventure of English theatre than any other organisation (Mark Rylance).  Whether it’s a much-loved venue, iconic landmark or unsung corner of London, LIFT gathers Londoners around incredible art.

LIFT’s mission is to create powerful, invigorating experiences that: challenge artistic, political and social conventions; champion artist advancement at home and abroad; lead sustainable internationalism; celebrate and connect London to the world.  This year is no different, with eight exciting shows happening all over London throughout the months of June and July 2024.

LISTINGS

The Land Acknowledgement or As You Like It – London premiere
Southbank Centre- Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall
5 – 7 June, 8pm
8 – 9 June, 3pm

Democracy From Where I Stand
The Dutch Church, City of London
8 June, 7pm

Bat Night Market – World Premiere
Science Gallery London
11 June – 14 June, 7pm & 15 June, 2pm
BSL performance 15 June

L’Homme Rare – UK Premiere
Southbank Centre: Queen Elizabeth Hall
12 – 13 June, 7.30pm
Post show talk: 12 June
Audio Description available: 13 June

The Trials and Passions of Unfamous Women – World Premiere
Brixton House
14 June – 22 June 19:30
19 & 22 June 2pm
Press night: 17 June

Bacchae: Prelude to a Purge – UK Premiere
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
18 June – 19 June, 19:30
Post show talk: Tuesday 18 June

L’Animale – UK Premiere
Old Bailey, City of London
22 – 23 June 2pm & 4pm

ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) – World Premiere
The Royal Court Theatre
13 July – 27 July 6.30pm/7pm/7:30pm
Matinee performances: Sat 20 July & 27 July, 1.30 & Thurs 25 July, 2.30
Press night: 17 July 7:00pm
Post show talk: 18 July
Captioned and Relaxed Performances – 18 July, 7:30pm & 27 July, 1:30pm

Book now for all eight shows at LIFT’s website, playing 5 June – 27 July 2024.

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INTERVIEW: Owen Chaponda, Merryl Ansah (The Lion King)

Interview

The award-winning West End production of Disney’s The Lion King will welcome Owen Chaponda (Back to the Future; The Colour Purple) and Merryl Ansah (Heathers; Crazy for You), who will step into the iconic roles of ‘Simba’ and ‘Nala’, this spring. This will mark their return to the show, both having previously performed in the ensemble in the West End production.

– Congratulations to both of you on winning these fiercely competitive roles. How did you react when you found out?

MA: I was at home and came running down the stairs screaming: my mum thought something was wrong! I just couldn’t believe it, but I was ecstatic, and still am.
OC: I called my mum straight away, and she just started screaming and bawling her eyes out!

– What challenges lie ahead for you?

OC: I’d say keeping the level of consistency that you need for such a demanding show, you have to be on your A-game and really give 100% every night.
MA: We’re doing this eight times a week, so we have to make sure that we are at our best every show.

– Why is Disney’s stage production of The Lion King still so popular, nearly twenty-five years after it opened?

OC: I think it’s the show’s authenticity, and the level of detail that goes into this production; it’s such an incredible piece of theatre.
MA: There really is nothing else like it; I think that’s why people come back time and time again.

– What are you most looking forward to about performing in the West End?

MA: I think for me it’s getting to inspire people, especially those who are coming for the very first time.
OC: I think being able to tell our stories, through these characters, is something I’m really looking forward to.

Owen Chaponda and Merryl Ansah will be roaring at the Lyceum Theatre from 9 May 2023.

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SCUD 雲翔 | A RETROSPECTIVE (2008-2017)

Film

Notorious Hong Kong filmmaker Scud (writer, director, producer, and often subject of his movies) has been shocking Hong Kong and the world since 2008 with his queer, openly sexual films, and picking up a slew of awards along the way. Scud’s world is free of taboo, free of clothes, and free of anyone without 0% body fat. Here’s The Prickle’s deep dive into Scud’s filmography.

City Without Baseball 無野之城 (2008)

Scud’s award-laden debut is probably his finest work, and his least explicitly pornographic. A based-on-true-stories homoerotic biopic of the doomed Hong Kong baseball team (the least popular sport in Hong Kong), this film stars the actual team members — none of whom are actors — all playing themselves. What sounds like a recipe for disaster is somehow utterly compelling: with a base layer of wacky kitsch, the film sincerely captures the team’s irrepressible passion for the American sport, along with many thought-provoking moments about queerness, suicide, and Hong Kong identity.

Permanent Residence 永久居留 (2009)

Scud’s second movie is autobiographical, following Ivan (Sean Li)’s passionate, non-sexual relationship with troubled and chaotic, heterosexual Windson (Osman Hung). What could be clumsy gay-baiting in the wrong hands comes across here as truthful and finely observed. Even the film’s opening with a brief timeline, from childhood, of Ivan’s rags to riches tale, feels exciting rather than self-indulgent. Even though we know the gay-straight “couple” are doomed to unhappiness, the joy they experience throughout is our joy, too, which makes the tragedy all the more powerful.

Amphetamine 安非他命 (2010)

This film more than mirrors the previous: the set-up and story is the same. However, unlike his counterpart in Permanent Residence, this straight-man-in-love (Byron Pang) is also addicted to using amphetamine, which appears, at first, to offer a way for him to overcome his heterosexuality. Near the start, the straight-gay pair go together to visit an art gallery that is showcasing production shots from Scud’s film Permanent Residence. The swimming instructor explains that he was the model for the production shoot, but not the actor. This playfully meta framing prepares us for a more poetic and hallucinogenic examination of the same biography.

Love Actually… Sucks! 愛很爛 (2011)

Scud plays with audience’s expectations from beginning to end here, with a focus on the absolute most depraved and horrific spectrum of heterosexuality. A humorous wordplay on Love Actually (2003), everything starts as a fast-paced, zany back-and-forth between lots of farcical relationships in heightened reality. But it ends with a lonely murderer (Osman Hung) slowly climbing a mountain and finding a place for his lover’s (Linda So) severed head to rest. Meanwhile, the creeping incest between a brother (Christepher Wee) and sister (Sherry Li) is treated as light comic relief. Utterly bizarre and not for the squeamish.

Voyage 遊 (2013)

The ocean “voyage” of young psychiatrist Ryo (Ryo van Kooten) is a device used to tether together a series of short films shot across Asia, Australia and Europe. Each film retells the story of a young person dying before their time, often by suicide, with real dates and photos of the deceased shown in the credits. The film’s strongest suit is the opening short, “Messengers to the Heaven”, where student Yan (Byron Pang) slowly loses his mind in Inner Mongolia, during Mao’s re-education program. Despite the film’s high death count, what shines through is Scud’s trademark homoeroticism and exuberance for life.

Utopians 同流合烏 (2015)

This is an uncharacteristically crass film for Scud, even with an excellent cast drawing out some sensitive performances. The story revolves around an impossibly hot and wealthy ‘philosophy’ lecturer (Jacky Chow) whose job seems to revolve around wearing his shirt half-open, showing slides of naked men, and talking about how great life was in Ancient Greece. He preys on a naive university student (Adonis He Fei), taking him on lavish sexscapades around the world, until he gets arrested in Thailand for homosexual relations with a 20-year-old. A masturbation scene halfway through is explicitly, simplistically pornographic. The fact that the film reaches for some kind of profound message just makes it all the worse.

Thirty Years of Adonis 三十儿立 (2017)

This is Scud’s most “arthouse” work; highly stylised, and a shift away from straightforward narrative or message. In a signature meta move, the title’s “Adonis” is played by himself (Adonis He Fei), using footage from his lead role in Utopians (2015), but in a cruel and surreal alternate reality. An inscrutable sugar-daddy figure (Justin Lim) guides Adonis — a struggling Beijing opera performer — more and more into the world of sex work, which gets progressively more twisted as the film progresses, to the point of murder. However, the film’s overarching storyline is about karma, samsara, and the meaning of life, with an increasingly cosmic scope as the story continues. Absolutely not for the prudish, yet profoundly spiritual.

Scud is now retired.  Scud’s final movies Apostles (2022), Bodyshop (2022), and Naked Nations: Hong Kong Tribe are yet to be released.

Follow Artopians on Instagram and GagaOOLala.

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INTERVIEW: RICHARD CADELL (X-TREME MAGIC)

Interview

Richard Cadell is a British illusionist, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter, starring in the UK tour of X-treme Magic.

– Richard – as the star of X-treme Magic, what can audiences expect?

Forget card tricks and hankies – this is thrilling magic, the scale of which has never been seen in the UK before. We have uniquely combined circus skills and genuine danger with some of the most mind-boggling illusions ever imagined.

– Do you get nervous performing your death-defying stunts? What if something goes wrong?

That’s why I do it! That’s the thrill of it. I had one near miss a couple of years ago and if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of one of my assistants, I wouldn’t be here to tell the story. Let’s just say it involved a chainsaw. It gave me an immediate fear of that stunt but I had to overcome that and put it back in the show. I’ll be performing it on this X-treme Magic tour. It’s the only element of the show which nobody will insure me for.

– The show and the props were created in Las Vegas – tell us a little bit about that process, and how the show has been in rehearsals for two years.

I’ve been performing magic all my life, and also teaching it. Over twenty years ago, one of my students, Tim, moved to Las Vegas where he started creating illusions for the world’s greatest illusionist, David Copperfield. I was thrilled when Tim then agreed to build for me. I generally fly to Vegas once a year. We will come up with new ideas, and the props are then built over many months and shipped over. We then go into heavy rehearsals, and adjustments are made, in order to make everything perfect. And then it hits the stage!

– What is your favourite stunt to perform / part of the show?

Without doubt, the mid-air vanishing motorbike. I ride my bike into a cage which is hoisted into the air. You can see all the way around it, from every side. The audience are just feet away from it when I and the bike disappear. No covers – it all just melts away – it’s impossible. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s the one everyone talks about. It’s – dare I say – extreme!

Playing at the New Wimbledon Theatre 25 October 2022.

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