Not only via our ravings about them in the past, you’re sure to have heard of The Scallabouche Theatre Company (comprising BritAlexis Latham and Americans, Andrew Hefler and Ben O’Brien). The trio have been taking Budapest by storm via the medium of fresh, original, unpredictable, risk-taking and sometimes downright bizarre improvisational (or impro) theater for some time now. We caught up with Alexis, to quiz him about what we can expect from the guys over the next few weeks, Hungary as a space to create and his exclusive invitation for www.funzine.hu users…
After a career in theater in the UK, Alexis has called Hungary home for fourteen years now. Unlike many here, his original decision to move to Budapest wasn’t based upon the love of a good woman… that came later. So, what did bring him to the eclectic capital? Well, his last eighteen months in England were spent in London with a UK theater company and his move away was prompted by a tour with them throughout Central and Eastern Europe. At the time, he was working on a scripted piece: “… something for kids, about the Napoleonic wars – very much about England as an island,” to be precise. During the tour, it struck him that, “Hungary felt like a good place to create; it seemed to foster creativity well. I also noticed a gap in the market here for English speaking impro. theater, I had experience and moving here just seemed to make sense. I also met my now wife during the tour.” So, for him, is Budapest a great place to create right now? His answer was resolute: “Here, there’s more time and space available for a person to be creative. In London, for example, it’s very difficult to find a space to work and live, simply due to the high cost of living. So, there I found that I was just so tired after working to make money that there was far less time and energy left for creativity. As well as Budapest offering more time and space to create, there are also so many influences that can be benefited from here, due to Hungary’s geographic location. We’re surrounded here by so many fascinating countries and cultures.”
So, that’s Hungary; but what draws him to impro theater, and why has he chosen it as his medium? “Well, for me, I love the magic of not knowing what’s going to happen next – right from the short-form workshop games through to the longer performances. An audience also knows you’re taking a risk, and neither of you know what to expect. As a result, there’s a real sense of risk, fun and danger involved for me.” Impro theater, and particularly the kind Scallabouche work with, by its very nature creates a relationship between actors and an audience that differs from traditional, scripted or choreographed performances. This is partly due to the intrinsic bond created by the risk sensed by an audience and taken by the actors. In Scallabouche’s performances, however, as Alexis puts it, “The gap between audience and actors is really broken down in parts.” This brings us to the upcoming Scallabouche performance, The Story Room, which is an ongoing series of performances which examine the nature, creation and telling of stories: both real and imagined. Here, audience members are invited to participate in the action by providing inspiration in the form of either written prompts or real life objects– be it an ad hoc packet of chewing gum from the bottom of someone’s bag or a pre-meditated set of photographs or self-penned novel… If a rubber chicken was produced, they’d use it, and the performance would change tack accordingly.
At the start of the show, the audience is invited to write down words, themes or phrases: things like a feeling from last week, or, more simply (but not necessarily with less unpredictable results), a noun. As a result, each performance is, in many ways, inspired and written by the audience present at the time. Alexis and the rest of the Scallabouche team process the information on-stage and work together to create an entirely original, individual performance. “Another beauty of the performances”, adds Latham, “is that they’re not recorded. As a result, what an audience experiences at the time truly is just theirs and ours at that moment. It happens and then it’s gone. Obviously there are some bits that we pick up or go back to again in later performances or workshops, but the performances themselves never happen again.” And (we had to ask), what have been the strangest or most exciting texts or objects they’ve been given to work with? Latham was quick to recall, “a pair of cowboy boots, a passport and someone’s diary… In terms of words, the more simple the better. Man/wet you can do a lot with; Tommy Hilfiger tends to lead in one direction.” Despite all this interaction, though, you’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the show as, “Audience participation is only an element of the performance in parts; it’s much greater at the beginning. After that, an audience is left to discover what we’ll do with their input.”
When asked to sum up, in a few words, what people can expect from The Story Room, Latham explains that, “When it works, it looks incredible. An audience often can’t believe the people on stage have never performed what they’re doing before. We don’t know where the upcoming stories will lead us any more then you do!”
What’s more, Alexis and Scallabouche have kindly offered www.funzine.hu users the exciting opportunity to create their own stories on stage at performances of The Story Room at Merlin on May 18th and 19th. All you need to do is supply one or more from the list below, and specify which night you’ll be attending. You’re also invited to bring along objects on the night: music CDs, photographs, food… whatever! So please include them in the list, too. We also want a few surprises, so don’t give everything away! Come on; let’s make it the most unforgettable Story Room so far… we want to be telling tales about it for a while! So, the list to choose from (you can use all four) is:
– An object
– A noun
– A theme
– A feeling from last week
Record your suggestions in our dedicated forum topic here. (you’ll need to log in or sign up to the site to post a comment)
Look out for more from us on Scallabouche soon… in the meantime, we’ll see you at Merlin!
The Story Room (FUNZINE special)
Dates: May 18 and 19 at 8 p.m.
Merlin Theater
1052 Budapest, Gerlóczy utca 4.
Tickets: 1500 HUF, students 1200 HUF
Tel.: +36.20.467.7523
Email: info@scallabouche.com
www.scallabouche.com
www.merlinszinhaz.hu