East End Review

Tag: Georgia Mizen

  • The real mothers of invention

    Gavin Weightman
    Gavin Weightman

    Inventions aren’t born fully fledged, nor are they the work of a lone genius. In his latest foray into the past, Hackney-based historian and former journalist Gavin Weightman explores the nuances and collaboration that lead inevitably to the all-important ‘eureka!’ moment in the story of invention.

    From his own school days as an amateur radio maker, Weightman has always been fascinated by how the impossible becomes possible. It is this fascination that is woven throughout Eureka: How Invention Happens, working backwards from the final product to the initial stages of exploration, the first breakthrough and the moment when it all becomes possible. “My book isn’t prescriptive,” he says. “It doesn’t tell you how to be an inventor, but rather takes a closer look at the pre-histories of inventions that involve all sorts of people.”

    Social histories have dominated the genre of late. Weightman’s book may sound industrially focused, yet one of its underlying threads is the impact, even as an afterthought, of great inventions on our society. It’s as much a book about people as it is about products; not just those who dreamed up the things we take for granted today, but those who use them.

    “Obviously inventions influence the human condition to some degree,” says Weightman. “Just look at social media as a result of a combination of the personal computer and the mobile phone, for example – but are we better or worse off because of them? Progress improves people’s lives and makes them easier, but I don’t think it fundamentally alters the balance of good and evil.”

    This is a question that crops up more and more as we live in an increasingly digital world. There’s no doubt that, in this book, these inventions are thought of as a good thing. Weightman doesn’t subscribe to the idea that necessity is the mother of invention, instead presenting an entertaining and compelling snapshot of everyday innovators who went beyond the bounds of possibility.

    “In researching my book, one of the most significant things I discovered is that those who have produced something practical have been largely outside the mainstream of science. It’s not that we don’t need scientists and engineers, it’s just that they don’t seem to think about who might need, or want, the item in question.”

    Weightman’s book emphasises the importance of the amateur in the creation of some of the most ubiquitous technologies that surround us today – the aeroplane, the television, the bar code, the personal computer and the mobile phone. Their very status as unknowns meant they had very little to lose, were able to experiment and test without the pressure of commitment to existing techniques and technologies. By focusing on the everyman behind the eureka moment, Weightman is redefining a historical narrative, taking an original approach to the ingenuity of invention that’s at once scientifically revealing and socially intriguing.

    It’s often a process of elimination, a hobby that turns into something far more serious as the boundaries are pushed. “There’s definitely an element of chance, of stumbling across things when it comes to invention,” says Weightman. “While some of the people I explore in my book, like the Wright brothers, had an idea of who might be interested in their creation, they usually hadn’t thought too far ahead, and just didn’t know how it would go.”

    This pattern emerges throughout this narrative, as time and again industry leaders declared the telephone unlikely to take off in Britain, or dismissed the television as a load of rubbish.

    Often, existing technology is what halts progress and creates resistance. Eureka: How Invention Happens explores how innovators have circumvented what seemed like insurmountable obstacles in their pursuit of the limits of reality. So when it comes to the creation of what still seems unimaginable to us today, like the flying car, what’s stopping us?

    “Sometimes it’s the failure of imagination, and sometimes it’s the resistance of the very industry who you’d think would produce it. Amateurs will give it a go first, before bigger industry moves in; I believe the working robot will be created by someone totally unexpected. Industries should go on perfecting their products, and leave the inventing to amateurs and outsiders.”

    Eureka: How Invention Happens
    is published by Yale University Press.
    ISBN: 9780300192087 RRP: £20.

  • Joseph Fritzl-inspired play at Hackney Showroom makes light of dark subject matter

    The cast of Clap Hands
    The cast of Clap Hands

    Eccentric playwright Aaron Hubbard comes from a strong TV, film and theatre background, and is known for his commitment to gallows humour. His new play Clap Hands explores the darkly funny side of love-hate sibling relationships, based on his reaction to the disturbing story of the Fritzl family. The production zooms in on the trials and tribulations two siblings endure as they are locked in the basement of their home by their mother, away from the prying eyes of their community. Under the immense strain of their adoration and hatred in equal measure, Ana and Gogol begin to plot their escape, and maybe even murder. Exploring themes of responsibility, sibling rivalry and the dark side of love, it promises to be a truly challenging piece of theatre. Desperate, deviant and dreamlike, Clap Hands is about to hit Hackney Showroom with a vengeance.

    What three words would you choose to describe your work?
    Soothing existential dread.

    How has your background brought you to this point?
    Clap Hands is certainly not representative of my own childhood. That is to say, my parents never locked me in the basement or held me against my will. Although I did once barricade myself in my room and do a poo on the floor.

    Where did this complex story come from?
    I watched a lot of Columbo as a child, which certainly had an influence on Clap Hands. I got very caught up with the Josef Fritzl case a few years ago, which also informed the play. A key character in the play – Cruz Gentle – was inspired by an episode of the KCRW UnFictional podcast where Alex Schmidt investigated the mysterious life and disappearance of Little Julian Herrera, a musician on the East LA Chicano music scene in the 1950s and 1960s. It’s an amazing story. I won’t spoil it, but I really recommend downloading the podcast.

    Why does dark humour appeal to you?
    Gosh, that’s a hard question. Clap Hands is a post-Fritzl narrative: its subject matter is domestic imprisonment. Gallows humour is a coping mechanism that has evolved to help us process monstrous acts like this. The humour in Clap Hands grew naturally from the characters and the world they inhabit.

    What do you think it means to endure a relationship?
    Probably best to ask my wife. Let me see if I can find the keys to the basement…

    What’s next for you?
    I am currently writing a play about Otherkin – people who identify as non-human. They have formed a dedicated internet subculture, which means I can finally justify spending all day on Tumblr in the name of research.

    Clap Hands is at Hackney Showroom, 17 Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT from 14–25 July hackneyshowroom.com

  • Hackney playwright’s murder musical to be made into film

    Anita Dobson as June in London Road
    Anita Dobson as June in London Road

    Hackney-based playwright Alecky Blythe is one of the UK’s leading verbatim theatre practitioners, with her plays created from real dialogue and real life events. Last year she used it to great effect in Little Revolution, about the London Riots. Now she is involved in a film adaptation of her greatest triumph to date, the acclaimed musical London Road, about the serial murders of five sex workers in Ipswich in 2006.

    What drew you to this dark story?
    At the time I was collecting material for my film The Girlfriend Experience – the women were saying I should go to Ipswich, because that’s where the story was. Eventually I did, in case I found anything I could use. It was so interesting, so dynamic. It was an extraordinary time that people just wanted to talk about. For ages the material sat on my shelf. I returned for the trial 18 months later to gauge the temperature, and that’s when I found out about London Road in Bloom, a flower competition residents were running. My focus then became specific, and London Road became central to the story. It was one that hadn’t yet been told, about a community coming together to heal itself.

    What you do on the stage is very innovative. How does it translate to film?
    The big challenge is that film is more visual. Verbatim is by its nature wordy, so it was my intention to consciously pick up active material on the street. I spoke to people when they were shopping, or at work, though I still did have to invent scenes and create a different type of stage direction. In film, viewers want to indulge their visual sense, so I tried to tackle that.

    How important was it to you that the killer had no part in the film?
    I didn’t want that to be the focus. I wasn’t asking about him or the women in my interviews; verbatim isn’t gossip, it’s about how people are affected. I wanted to know what it was like living on the same street as a serial killer, and people responded well to that. They didn’t want to talk about sensationalist stuff, they just wanted to offload.

    Why do you think music works so well in London Road?
    I’d always wanted to make a musical. In my play Cruising, there’s a scene where a couple dance a waltz to Stevie Wonder. It’s such a relief from all the talking, and it gave me the idea to make a verbatim piece with music for release. Later, I attended a workshop at the National Theatre with several writers and composers. I took some stuff to experiment with – material I’d collected at the time of the Ipswich murders. The composer Adam Cork and I just found that music worked so well with the interviews of scared women and chivalrous men. They were bitty and fragmented, but the music glued them together and enriched the subject matter. Adam was so brilliant, so forensic with the detail that there was a real joy in the challenge of lifting the speech. We found originality in the patterns.

    How do you think people endure this kind of event?
    Through coming together. Cultural and social boundaries don’t matter in an extraordinary situation. Friendship and connecting in a shared experience is what got them through. The people of Ipswich dared to go out and found that, through awful circumstances, they connected. It’s a commonality in all my work.

    What do you hope viewers take away from this?
    Ultimately it is uplifting. There’s a bittersweet ending. These people now have friendship and each other, and a community that looks out for them. I want viewers to take away the power of community.

    recordeddelivery.net

  • Clarion – stage review: ‘filthy, dark, hilarious and utterly human’

    Greg Hicks as Morris Honeyspoon in Clarion. Photograph: Simon Annand
    Greg Hicks as Morris Honeyspoon in Clarion. Photograph: Simon Annand

    As Clarion – a deeply satirical look at Britain’s press from former tabloid journalist Mark Jagasia – opens at Dalston’s Arcola Theatre, one can’t help but compare it to the successful run of Great Britain in the West End. Where the former was a showy, colourful, big-budget production, Clarion is filthy, dark, hilarious and utterly human.

    The play is set in the offices of the Clarion, Britain’s worst newspaper. As the paper comes under fire for its questionable content, leaked to a rival from the inside, the barebones staff descend into hysteria. Some of theatre’s A-list take a turn on the stage here, delivering some devilishly crafted performances as typical tabloid journos.

    The first half of the opening act features jarring scene changes as the fade outs slice the action. It lacks subtly – though one feels that’s more about the direction than the script. It improves massively about an hour in, however; what starts out as over-exaggerated stereotyping morphs into a scathing, witty diatribe as the first act picks up tempo and charge.

    It’s probing, laden with expletives and with some cracking one-liners. Clare Higgins as long-standing columnist Verity Stokes carries the whole thing, her fading power driving her betrayal, while her editor Morris Honeyspoon, played with shocking acrimony by a remarkable Greg Hicks, is an old-school tyrant. He relentlessly picks on junior staff and vastly overestimates his own opinions, ignorance welded to self-belief.

    The staging is remarkably evocative of the exact environment the dialogue musters, despite the limited space, and there’s a palpable sense of unease that only intensifies as the story breaks. It seems as though the ‘traitor in our midst’ trope is very revealing of Jagasia’s role as whistle-blower through the very staging of this production. The severity of the attack is mitigated with raucous humour; the state of Britain scene is one of the funniest in the production, rousing rowdy applause from the audience.

    Clarion isn’t dislikeable because it’s a poor production, but because it’s unpleasant to watch – the characters are utterly morally and socially reprehensible, throwing out the question of how deeply we’re manipulated by our own press. Jagasia and Ergen have done a magnificent job in bringing this issue to light; it’s not just satire, it’s a damning reflection of the state of British press and politics. With such an accurate rendering of our reality, it feels wrong to laugh, but as witness to a play of this quality, you won’t be able to help it.

    Clarion is at Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL until 16 May.
    arcolatheatre.com

  • Laxmi: Rules Made By Men Who Never Sleep – EP review

    Lou Barnell and
    Laxmi relaxing: Lou Barnell and Stergin

    Hackney-based duo Laxmi bounce straight out of the speakers and into your brain: you can’t shake them off, no matter how hard you try. Their unique brand of ‘voodoo pop’, created from found noises and urban soundscapes, is suited to both grimy clubs and the darkness of your bedroom at night.

    Laxmi’s new EP, Rules Made By Men Who Never Sleep, is a challenging set of songs that fights definition. It pays homage to the likes of PJ Harvey and early M.I.A., while settling into its own groove, carved out by pulsing basslines and razor-sharp lyrics. It can loosely be termed electronica, though so many other influences creep in that it’s hard to keep up with them. ‘I Wanna Be Your Blood’ is probably the most accessible track, with its strangely relatable lyrics and potential for remix. It builds satisfyingly, drawing in the listener before dropping off into nothing.

    Singer Lou Barnell has a massive voice, dripping with nonchalance and cool. Her enveloping vocals are supported by guitarist Stergin, forming a match that’s dirty, deep and fresh. Both are labelled producers, suggesting an independence and spiritedness that shines through in every track. ‘It Is Over’ is the highlight of this short offering, with a thumping rhythm and catchy hook. This is music to move to.

    Not everyone’s cup of tea, Rules Made By Men Who Never Sleep is undeniably ambitious and atmospheric. The concept isn’t new by any stretch, but it’s a clever and provocative rendering of found sound. It might not break any records in the mainstream, but this EP’s originality and irresistibility surely mean this sound will become a staple on the East London electronica scene.

    Laxmi next play at The Bird’s Nest in Deptford on 17 April

    laxmiband.com
    soundcloud.com/laxmiband

  • Homes of the homeless: Seeking Shelter in Victorian London – a big issue then as now

    Homeless men in a Salvation Army Shelter c.1900 © The Salvation Army Heritage Centre
    Homeless men in a Salvation Army Shelter c.1900 © The Salvation Army Heritage Centre

    The homeless person sleeping rough might be a common image in London today, but in the 19th century there were hundreds spilling onto the streets every night.

    Short but powerful, the new exhibition Homes of the Homeless: Seeking Shelter in Victorian London at the Geffrye Museum seeks to illuminate the daily struggle of the bitterly poor in the city 200 years ago. What this exhibition highlights most candidly is the juxtaposition between the Victorian ideal of the home and the reality of destitution in this period.

    The middle class prized the family unit, privacy and the sanctity of the home, all the things the homeless could not achieve: workhouses split families, early shelters grouped people into dormitories, and many found it impossible to gather together the little money needed to find shelter at all. The cholera epidemic of the 1840s and housing crisis of the 1880s brought the situation to serious peaks, resulting in mass poverty, widespread homelessness and total desperation.

    Some took to sleeping in London’s parks, while others tumbled into shelters and workhouses, where conditions varied massively. Queueing for accommodation was something frequently seen on the streets come dark, even in central locations like Covent Garden, and protests broke out as hundreds camped out in Trafalgar Square.

    The Pinch of Poverty by Thomas Benjamin Kennington 1891. Credit: The Foundling Museum
    The Pinch of Poverty by Thomas Benjamin Kennington 1891. Credit: The Foundling Museum

    Touching in so many different ways, the exhibition features paintings, photographs, testimonials and engravings all depicting homelessness in its various guises. The destitute family was a common image, with children evoking particular sympathy, and billboards and newspapers both carried adverts imploring people to give whatever they could to support the city’s more unfortunate souls. The government did, by today’s standards, much to stem the flow of homelessness in the capital, but as the century progressed, the problem became more difficult to contain.

    Homes of the Homeless charts this challenge, touching on the different approaches to homelessness – from casual wards where ‘inmates’ could exchange hard labour for a place to sleep, to model lodging houses that were designed to more closely imitate a real home – as well as real people’s reactions to their dire circumstances, collected from investigative journalism and charity reports.

    Thoroughly researched and straightforwardly presented, this exhibition is accessible to anyone interested in the history of London. With glaring relevance today, it presents a significant slice of history that should not be overlooked, and an important lesson in charity and compassion. Homes of the Homeless is a succinct, enlightening exhibition in one of London’s most charming museums.

    Homes of the Homeless: Seeking Shelter in Victorian London is at the Geffrye Museum, 136 Kingsland Road, E2 8EA until 12 July

    geffrye-museum.org.uk

    Men at dinner in a St Marylebone Workhouse, c.1900. Credit: Geffrye Museum
    Men at dinner in a St Marylebone Workhouse, c.1900. Credit: Geffrye Museum

     

  • Hackney actor is a headstrong heroine as Antigone

    Gamba Cole and Savannah Gordon Liburd in Antigone. Photograph: Robert Day
    Gamba Cole and Savannah Gordon Liburd in Antigone. Photograph: Robert Day

    After making her film debut in Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, Hackney’s Savannah Gordon-Liburd is forging ahead in her acting career. This month she will be prowling the stage as the complex titular character in Roy Williams’ daring contemporary production of Sophocles’ Antigone, in the last leg of its UK tour at Theatre Royal Stratford East.

    Writer Roy Williams has described this production as “a play for today’s streets”. Do you think that it is relevant to audiences?

    It’s very relevant to London – topics that are played out in the production are really relatable to young people especially. It’s a modern reworking of an ancient story, in a way that’s easy to understand.

    How does Williams’ vision play into Marcus Romer’s direction of your character?

    Roy has given Antigone a new lease of life. Although she has the same essence as the original, it’s a completely new piece. Marcus encourages input from actors, and lets us make the words our own. It really is a breath of fresh air. The way Roy writes is very natural, which allows me to play Tig freely.

    Antigone is an incredibly headstrong character. Does that resonate with you?

    I grew up very differently from Tig, although Roy saw qualities in me that are in her too. I’m confident and not a follower, so I’ve put myself in her shoes. You could say I’ve taken my personality and put it into her.

    Antigone so far has had some stellar reviews – does that put you under pressure as an actor?

    People have loved it! They’ve said they’ve never seen anything like it, which is great feedback. I’m really excited to be on stage in London, but it’s nerve-wracking doing it at home in front of friends and family. After performing the same piece for so long, you just want it to be new and fresh and amazing for every new audience.

    Do you think this production will bring in new audiences?

    This is a big thing for us: a lot of young people don’t think theatre is for them, particularly when it’s something like Antigone, a Greek play that’s so ancient. But schools have come in and said it’s the best thing, which is great. There’s a lot of comedy in it, as well as darkness, and it’s so relatable. It’s not a typical production, so hopefully it will open up a realm of exciting theatre for young people especially.

    Where do you think this role will take you next?

    I’ve got no idea what’s next! I’m hoping that I can go on to bigger things, as I want to make my career out of this. Antigone is my fourth tour since 2011, it’s what I know. I love TV too and want to do film, so I hope that it’s up from here – fingers crossed!

    Antigone is at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, E15 1BN from 19 February – 14 March
    stratfordeast.com

  • Meet Hackney’s all-female Deep Throat Choir

    Deep Throat Choir 620
    Deep Throat Choir

    Deep Throat Choir are an all-female singing sensation from Hackney, and they’re on a mission. After a lauded performance at Green Man Festival last month, we talk to founder Luisa Gerstein about roots, visions and who they really are.

    Deep Throat Choir – what a provocative name. What is behind it?
    It is a provocative name but you forget that quickly. People barely batted an eyelid when we let it into the ether, and as far as where it came from it’s just a joke that stuck. It’s silly and not meant to be taken seriously, and for the most part people get that.

    How would you describe your sound?
    It’s so straightforward: voices and drums, just voices and drums. When arranging the songs I’ve liked being restricted in that way, and I think it’s good to have limitations in the tools you’re using. Voices are so powerful, so it’s nice to leave them alone for once. So far all the songs are covers, ranging from old soul to more recent indie songs. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time so I’ve got a backlog of ideas I want to try, and also to write specifically for the choir.

    What’s your vision as a choir?
    To raise our voices together on a weekly basis till we’re old cronies. I can’t tell you how good that feels!

    What does East London mean to you?
    It’s where we come together and sing, and it’s where a lot of us live, but I’d feel disingenuous to claim roots here – I started the choir by reaching out to female friends who like singing and they’re from all over the place. We get together in a beautiful church with incredible acoustics and it’s great to be part of a community – we’re one of four choirs who rehearse there and there’s always some kind of activity going on. I don’t think it would have been as easy to get it started anywhere else in London, and most of our performances are happily within a short radius of where we sing, so there is that sense of rootedness.

    Where are you going next?
    We’ve got a few more plans to perform this year, including a Christmas show at St Barnabas Church just off Shacklewell Lane. We’re going to start recording so we’ll be able to put some music out soon too. We’d also really love to do a castle tour around the UK next summer and a barge tour, so if anyone can help with those things then please get in touch!

    www.facebook.com/Deepthroatchoir

  • Spoiling review: a post-apocalyptic look at Scottish ‘independence’

    Spoiling - Richard Clements and Gabriel Quigley credit Jeremy Abrahams 620
    Spoiling alert: Richard Clements and Gabriel Quigley in comedy about Scottish independence. Photograph: Jeremy Abrahams

    Fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe with a Fringe First Award from the Scotsman, John McCann’s short, snappy Spoiling is now showing at London’s own Theatre Royal Stratford East.

    Set in the aftermath of the ‘yes’ vote of Scotland’s independence referendum, Spoiling is smartly-timed, peppered with dark humour and a sense of inevitability.

    With the fantastic casting of Gabriel Quigley as First Minister Fiona and Richard Clements as Northern Irish aide Mark, this play is a sensational envisioning of post-apocalyptic (post-yes vote) Scottish politics in the hands of a modern woman. Staging is immediate, lighting that brightens with the intensity of a satirical slant on what’s about to happen. McCann’s writing is sudden and intelligently funny, laced with blatant sexism.

    Fiona’s intense swearing and comedic timing solidifies the situation, turning it from grand ideas into a reality. Mark is more guarded, toeing the party line to avoid ‘career suicide’.

    There’s an undeniable political message, though one isn’t quite sure which way it leans: is it mocking or championing Scotland’s desire and ability to be a sovereign state? Fresh and tasteful, this hour-long play lays a heavy gaze upon a never more relevant issue.

    Contained within one room on the stage throughout, Spoiling is so real it’s almost history, or prophecy. Orla O’Loughlin’s direction displays an incredible grasp of political banter, so for the audience this is threatening, powerful, thought-provoking. Sublime performances from both actors make this a driven showcase of political and personal frustration and conviction.

    Between the lines of party politics and patriotism, there are overarching themes of peace or dysfunction, quiet or protest, compromise or oppression.
    A brave poke at a bear that sets the tone for a long-held breath before the referendum that will change history, McCann’s creation has integrity and spirit – let’s hope this is behind Scotland’s imminent decision.

    Spoiling is at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, E15 1BN until 13 September.

    www.stratfordeast.com/spoiling

  • ‘Too much silence around FGM perpetuates the tradition’

    Director Alex Crampton
    Director Alex Crampton

    Why do you think FGM goes under the radar in the UK?

    It’s down to our lax legislation: there are too many holes. British Kenyans are clinics’ biggest customers. In this country there is a race concern within the law – how do we differentiate between cosmetic surgery and FGM? Is it a black and white issue? In Kenya women are taking legal action, protecting themselves. Here, FGM can be a way of gaining control of culture, tradition and community. Western populations need to be involved in this conversation.

    What does Little Stitches mean to you?

    It has meant increasing amounts as time has gone on. I didn’t understand the physical reality and complexity of FGM before. The play’s humanising, flesh and blood relevance has moved [FGM] from being something one should be aware of to a civic responsibility. [With the play] I want to remove negativity and shame, and deal with this problem in a long-lasting way.

    How did this sensitive subject matter first capture your imagination?

    An African film, Moolaade, captured my attention. It brings the tensions of the practice to the surface, with ancient rites and a sense of the sacred, which is so alien to my culture. There’s so much acute pain in the physicality of FGM and I’m still informing myself of it.

    How is it working trying to create such a powerful piece of theatre?

    We’ve spent a lot of time building up openness and trust. It’s tough, but engaging and empathetic. I’m so happy with the casting, everyone’s so motivated by the aims of the project. The hardest part is the emotional process and reining in the impassioned discussions. We’re trying to keep it as concrete as possible, and to ground it when we veer off into discursive territory.

    What are you bringing to the mix?

    A stripped down production, in terms of movement and set. Characterisation is at the forefront, with detailed digging behind the media front line. Too much silence – even within families, between mothers and daughters – around FGM perpetuates the tradition, fermenting resentment in this unspoken traumatic experience. We’re trying to make this everyone’s business.

    Little Stitches is at the Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL from 29-30 August