By Jove Co-Artistic Director David Bullen takes a quick retrospective on the first two years of the company’s work and gives a tantalising glimpse into what’s in store for future projects…
In November 2011, a small group of actors, directors, writers, musicians, and students met at the National Theatre for what would become the first meeting of By Jove Theatre Company. Most of us were currently working on a production with Royal Holloway Classical Society, and we had gathered to see if we could take that piece further. Two years and more have since flashed by in what seems an all too brief whirlwind of theatre productions, workshops, one-in-the-morning emergency meetings, and other such larks. Here we are in 2014, about to embark on the most exciting year yet for the company.
Fact: Circles strengthen one’s connection to the gods of theatre
Now you may be thinking that it is perhaps a little premature to be penning this sort of thoughtful indulgence in nostalgia, and I am somewhat inclined to agree with you. We are, however, proud to have evolved from a band of vaguely likeminded students to a theatre ensemble with a shared set of goals and passions. It makes me immensely proud, as artistic director throughout that period, to see many of the same people with whom we started still working alongside us as we progress into 2014. Having just spent two successive weekends processing nearly two hundred audition applications, it makes me equally proud to welcome new associates into the company. In a theatre industry such as ours in Britain today, severely underfunded and staffed by individuals constantly under pressure from the looming anxieties of pursuing an ‘unstable’ career, it’s wonderful to work with folks who have conviction in their ambitions and value the meaning of loyalty.
The piece I refer to above is a new version of Shakespeare’s Othello put together by one of our artistic associates, the wonderful SJ Brady. It represents a big first for the company: tackling Shakespeare himself. For a group of people whose politics are greatly informed by feminist theory, taking on the Master-in-Chief of the patriarchal canon is a significant challenge. We would never wish to create heritage theatre, regurgitating Shakespeare for his own sake in what essentially boils down to fan worship. Not at all: we want to find out what he has to say to us today, in the 21st century. Othello seems ideally suited for this. A play about prejudice, our version sees the heterosexual male lead recast as a lesbian, transposing the play to the summer of the same-sex marriage row in England and Wales. It’s still very much a piece about race, but what we hope to suggest is that actually misogyny and homophobia is drawn from a disturbingly similar well of hatred as racism. At least that’s what we envisioning right now: we’re about to embark on a workshop period culminating in a public work-in-progress showing on Thursday 10th April at the Bussey Building in Peckham; come along and see how the piece has evolved.
Hey,look! A reminder!
A full-length version of our Othello has a two week run at the Bussey Building this August, and beyond that we have further exciting ventures on the go. We are continuing to make preparations for our “Pride and Power” trilogy that is due to debut at a certain famous Scottish fringe festival in 2015: the project is a season of plays performed in rep that examines the pitfalls of pride in Britain’s places of power, whether it is our government, our communities, or our homes. These three areas are explored via one of Shakespeare’s dark political fables, an unsettlingly relevant Greek tragedy, and a brand new piece of writing respectively. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months…
Now, for the cryptically-minded among you, it may have occurred to you that I’ve mentioned plans for a piece about pride for next year and prejudice before that – I’m definitely not hinting that a certain play we may or may not have produced that combines both themes is due to return to London soon. Definitely not at all. Perish the thought…
So with all that in mind, I’m rather excited about 2014. Here’s hoping you’ll join us in one of our endeavours in the coming year and then, fingers crossed, you’ll be as excited as I am.
