East End Review

Tag: Hackney Downs Studios

  • Art review – The Poor Door: ‘a mini-Dismaland’

    The Poor Door...exhibition space
    The Poor Door exhibition space at Hackney Downs Studios

    Nowhere is the current housing crisis more prevalent than in London.

    There has been a 37 per cent increase in London rough sleeping during the past year according to the Department for Communities and Local Government, whilst 22,000 homes stand empty.

    With the figures contradicting Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s previous pledge to end rough sleeping by 2012, housing is set to be one of the major campaigning issues for London mayoral hopefuls ahead of next year’s election in May.

    This is the backdrop to The Poor Door, an exhibition running for two weeks at the A-Side B-Side gallery in Hackney Downs Studios, named after the growing trend for new developments to create separate entrances for tenants according to their wealth.

    Banksy fan Tinsel Edwards found ten other artists to highlight the issue of housing using a variety of perspectives.

    It is this multi-disciplinary approach that you notice on entering the exhibition space, with a large mobile installation and a laptop playing a video on opposite sides. In the far corner a well-dressed eccentric man preaches about the importance of rubble.

    On the wall, an unused mansion on Billionaire’s Row is depicted by the artist KIN, looking as imposing as it does in reality.

    Dead Pigeons and Chandeliers by KIN
    Billionaire’s Row mansion by KIN

    Other highlights include a peephole inviting visitors to view a well-constructed shopping mall panorama and, reflecting that London house prices have risen 18.4 per cent in one year, a mock-up of a Foxton’s estate agents banner, subverting their familiar branding with a pound sign.

    This intimate setting, tucked away on Amhurst Terrace, showcases the passion and creativity of activist art and it was great to see such a range of ages in attendance.

    Short film screenings during the exhibition run include the Focus E15 Mum’s campaign tonight (8 October) at 7.30pm and an artist and curator talk on 10 October at 3pm.

    Whether you’re there to learn or be inspired, this mini-Dismaland adds an important voice to a problem that isn’t going away any time soon.

    The Poor Door is at A-Side B-Side gallery, Hackney Downs Studios, Amhurst Terrace, London E8 2BT until 11 October.

  • Facing The Realness: ex-offenders and care leavers to star in new musical at Hackney Downs Studios

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    Serael Asphall as Rox and Veronique Andre as Shanice in The Realness. Photograph: Catherine Ashmore

    Whether a hollow boast, a mark of authenticity or merely a matter of taste, the notion of ‘realness’ has been central to contemporary culture for decades.

    Hip-hop artists frequently lay claim to being ‘the realest’, from legendary rapper Tupac Shakur to Iggy Azalea.

    For the 16-strong cast of a new musical opening at Hackney Downs Studios this November, however, it is about learning to face the harsh realities of life.

    Veronique Andre plays Shanice in The Realness, a musical about Jay, a young man who leaves prison and tries to get his life back on track.

    “Realness is about what it’s really like on the streets,” she says. “When you leave prison and you go back to your normal life, that’s when the realness dawns on you.”

    Jay’s is a journey that reflects the experiences of many of the cast, which is partly composed of care-leavers and ex-offenders performing alongside professional actors.

    Co-created by The Big House Theatre Company and Big Broad Productions, the idea was born many years ago when director Maggie Norris was working in prisons and pupil referral units.

    Faced with the shocking statistic that 40 per cent of young people in prison have been in care, Norris set up The Big House in 2013 to offer an alternative future for young care leavers.

    “The problem with people coming out of prison is that they go back to their old patch. People don’t realise how hard it is to stay on the straight and narrow,” she says.

    Offering a course of life skills training, drama workshops and the opportunity to devise and perform a new piece of theatre, the programme is an invaluable stepping-stone for young people making the transition into an independent adult life.

    Directing A Christmas Carol in Wormwood Scrubs some years ago, Norris was approached by Jason, a young man eager to be in her production. It wasn’t until he reminded her that she realised this was the same young man who was once her neighbour.

    Through The Big House Norris was able to intervene at a critical moment in Jason’s life and he is now delivering talks about the reality of life in prison to young people at risk of offending.

    Inspired by the experiences of the participants on The Big House theatre training programme, recent productions have garnered exceptional reviews from local and national press as well as industry professionals.

    More importantly, Norris argues that the programme she leads has a profound effect on the lives of the participants.

    “It is not about training actors, it’s about building confidence and self esteem,” she says.

    “But we still uncover some massive talent who really deserve to be in the profession, and Veronique is one of them.”

    The Realness is at Hackney Downs Studios, Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT from 13 November – 20 December www.hackneydownsstudios.wordpress.com

  • Hackney Downs Studios to host season of plays in “roundabout” theatre

    Cutting Off Kate Bush - Hackney Down
    Lucy Benson-Brown in Cutting Off Kate Bush

    Fresh from a successful spell at the Edinburgh Fringe, Paines Plough’s Roundabout Auditorium is back on the move and heading for the East End. The portable 168-seat theatre will set up camp at Hackney Downs Studios, with a series of Brave New Work running each night from 22-27 September.

    Met with resounding critical acclaim under the spotlight in Scotland, the material – penned by Duncan MacMillan, Alexandra Wood, Dennis Kelly and Lucy Benson-Brown – promises much. From Kate Bush to classroom trolls, audiences will be exposed to a “thought-provoking, funny and thrilling” bill of one-act, 50-60-minute productions, according to Louise Wellby, of the Hackney venue.

    “When we heard about The Roundabout Auditorium – the UK’s first small-scale in-the-round touring amphitheatre – we knew it would be an excellent fit,” she says, explaining that the flat-pack pop-up is just right for the studios’ 400-square-foot industrial performance space. “The mission of our theatre is perfectly aligned with the mission of Paines Plough.”

    Said mission is “to open up theatre to everyone”. Paines Plough, famously established in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in The Plough pub, believes that “everyone should have the chance to see the best new plays, no matter where they live”, and has taken an innovative approach to achieving its goal. The Hackney Studios gig is just one stop amidst substantial tour plans, with no village hall, community centre or warehouse off limits.

    The design of the theatre itself will contribute to a novel taste of the stage. “The shape of the Roundabout creates an intimate experience – there is nowhere to hide,” says Wellby. “We are excited about bringing brave new writing to Hackney, altering and opening up the way people experience theatre – making it accessible.”

    Every Brilliant Thing
    by Duncan MacMillan

    MacMillan’s six-year-old narrator is staring his mum’s dangerous depression in the face and wants to help cheer her up. The solution, he feels, is simple; he starts work on a list of all the brilliant things in the world that he can think of, hoping its contents might change her outlook. A pinch of audience participation helped this one-man comedy go down a storm with crowds and critics alike in Edinburgh.

    Lungs
    by Duncan MacMillan

    A first baby is on the cards for one half of central-couple M and W, but the other half takes the suggestion like a punch in the face. Thirty-something, well-educated and busy making fruitless trips to Ikea, the pair confront the moral dilemma of having a family in a world of overpopulation, erratic weather and political unrest.

    Our Teacher’s a Troll
    by Dennis Kelly

    With a Roald Dahl kind of no-holds-barred approach to the darker side of characterisation, Kelly has taken kindly to unsettling young audiences – in the best possible way, of course. Our Teacher’s a Troll is a three-person performance in which a set of scally-wag twins see their nervy headteacher replaced by a child-eating monster. As well as saving the school, the naughty pair must get peanut-buttered Brussels sprouts off the lunch menu.

    The Initiative
    by Alexandra Wood

    When an East London taxi-driver, with a taste for the scenic route, hears that pirates from his Somali homeland have seized a British couple he takes it upon himself to negotiate a release. Flying against his wife’s fears, Dalmar embarks on a journey of self-discovery – unwittingly so, perhaps. Wood’s thoughtful script is packed with thrills and weighty ideas about the nature of identity and belonging.

    Cutting Off Kate Bush
    by Lucy Benson-Brown

    Tracking the meltdown of a twenty-something Kate Bush fan-girl, Benson-Brown’s self-performed piece looks at family, loss and the backlog of an eclectic and eccentric pop star. Cathy’s mum is dead and things are falling apart around her; in keeping with modern trends, she turns to Youtube for a Bush-themed vent.

    Brave New Work is at Hackney Downs Studios, Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT from 22–27 September.

    www.hackneydownsstudios.wordpress.com/whats-on

  • Turfed: the play that uses football to tackle homelessness

    Turfed: tackling child homelessness. Image by Andrew Esiebo
    Turfed: tackling child homelessness. Image by Andrew Esiebo

    Brazilian director Renato Rocha is not obsessing about his country’s chances at the World Cup this month, even though his play Turfed, which opens this month at Hackney Downs Studios, is inspired by the ‘beautiful game’.

    “If Brazil wins then people forget its problems so many of us are not supporting Brazil,” he says.

    Tensions have been running high in the country with protests against the cost of staging the tournament and the comparative lack of investment in public services.

    But for Rocha it’s not a case of either/or; a fairer society versus the spiralling cost of a football competition. His idea is to harness the global pull of football to raise awareness of another global problem: child homelessness.

    In partnership with the Street Child World Cup, Turfed uses a young international cast, some with experience of living on the streets in London, Tanzania, the Philippines and Brazil, to tell stories of homelessness using football as a metaphor for life.

    “In Brazil it’s like everything is about football,” says Rocha. “I had the idea of the analogy of the ball as an opportunity in life: so to receive the ball you have to be ready, but when you do receive the ball what do you do with it?”

    Rocha has devised the play alongside the actors, who use their own experiences and stories but retell them in a non-linear way through a series of footballing analogies using dance, visual art and and music.

    “Some speak with dance, some use poetry and others speak more with music. That’s the challenge that we give to them,” he says.

    Rocha recalls a story about going to a hostel in central London with the crew to audition people for the play. One crew member, a life-long Londoner, confessed to not knowing the hostel existed. Rocha found this revealing. “If you don’t know, how do you solve a problem that’s an invisible problem?” he says.

    “We want not just to show the audience the problem but to try to make them put themselves in that situation. If you are on the streets what do you do? Why are people living on the streets? Why do they leave their homes?”

    In the UK, says Rocha, homeless children are not living on the streets like they are in Brazil. “Actually the reasons that make people to go to the streets and leave their homes are often the same,” he says and gives family, sexual abuse, domestic violence, alcohol and poverty as examples.

    With Turfed, Rocha hopes to turn the tide of ‘invisibility’, though whether the play will help directly he doesn’t know. “The world is fast and people don’t have time to see,” he sighs. “But I always use the analogy of the guys who went in search of India but instead they discovered America. It might not have been what they were looking for but at least they discovered something.”

    Turfed is at Hackney Downs Studios, Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT from 9-21 June.

    www.liftfestival.com

  • New season of drama at Hackney Downs Studios

    Flyer for Baby/Lon, now showing at Hackney Downs Studios
    Flyer for Baby/Lon, now showing at Hackney Downs Studios

    Hackney Downs Studios announces a season of new drama. A triptych of hard-hitting, daring and evocative theatre.

    Season One presents theatrical work on an epic scale 

    The season promises three promenade productions of exceptional quality and provocative content, each exploring the vulnerability of the human condition. The season takes its audience on a journey, a life-cycle of pregnancy, birth, displacement and death, concluding with a tale of astonishing rebirth and renewal.

    Hackney Downs Studios is working with The Big House (theatre company in residence), Renato Rocha for LIFT festival and Living Structures, all innovative theatre companies who believe that theatre and art can transform lives.

    BABY/LON

    Apr 14th – May 3rd Written by Andy Day Directed By Maggie Norris

    Press Night and Season One Launch Thurs 17 April, for tickets email lou@creativenetworkpartners.com

    Dear Daughter, If you never meet me…I want you to know that my first thoughts of you were full of hope. As you grew inside me, I knew nothing about you, and I was still so deeply in love with you that I could hardly think.

    Inspired by the real-life stories and experiences of a care-leaving cast, The Big House return with their second show exploring the harsh realities of having a child taken into care.

    Press Release | bighousetheatre.org.uk

    TURFED

    Jun 9th – 21st

    Directed By Renato Rocha
    Press Night Wed 11th June, for tickets email lou@creativenetworkpartners.com

    Inspired by the ‘beautiful game’, Rocha and an international team of young artists use spoken word, sharp choreography and stunning visuals to explore experiences of homelessness in London and across the world in a production that will make you see your home, family and friends in surprising new ways.

    Created in partnership with Street Child World Cup and part of the 20th LIFT festival.

    LIFT 2014 Press Release | liftfestival.com

    LEVIATHAN

    Jul 5th – 26th
    An homage to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick Created by Living Structures

    Press Night Wed 16th July, for tickets email lou@creativenetworkpartners.com

    A stunning reimagining of Captain Ahab’s relentless pursuit of the great white whale, Leviathan is imbued with the monochrome colours, geometric shapes and functionality of Russian Constructivism. Pioneers of immersive theatre – Living Structures – take its audience through an adventurous journey of stunning landscapes, choruses of singers, giant objects, sailor aerialists and hauntingly beautiful songs that fill you with wonder and break your heart.

    Press Release | livingstructures.co.uk
    Tickets from £5 at hackneydownsstudios.com | @HackneyDStudios | #SeasonOne

  • Baby/Lon review – ‘This is not just about entertainment’

    Tough times: in Baby/Lon
    Hard hitting: Baby/Lon. Photograph: George Ramsay

    The Big House brings another gut wrenching production to Hackney Downs Studios with Baby/Lon, based on the lives of the young cast who have all recently left care.

    In the Big House’s favoured promenade delivery, the visceral story is played out in an emotional dance which tears at your senses, while a barrage of visual and audio projection create an unsettling backdrop.

    The show expertly tackles a myriad of issues affecting some children brought up by the government without their families, spanning from gang affiliation and teenage sex to mental health and homelessness.

    In a world of entwined tragedies where almost everyone seems stuck in a hopeless cycle, the main character, Madeline, feels abandoned in life and paranoia is enveloping her.

    Constant analysis and labels assigned by social workers and mental health professionals ricochet through her dreams and enhance her self-hate in an echoing cacophony of judgement.

    And with a lack of role models and a deep seated mistrust of social services, danger is her destination.

    Floating between groups with her desperate need for love translating into promiscuity, she claws for attention from empty connections and is left pregnant.

    With a desire to protect her baby conflicting with past failings and parallels of rejection, Madeline isolates herself more and more.

    And although some of the strongest characters eventually succumb to their assumed predestinations, Madeline’s one true friend, the enduring voice of reason, Estelle, offers an alternative ending.

    The tense, violent finale at the rear of the theatre opens into the real world, heightening the fact that these heart breaking situations have actually happened to the actors and this is not just about entertainment.

    Echoing the Big House’s success in helping the most marginalised young people, one actress, Zoe Finlay, 18, says: “This is my first big showcase performance and it has been a life changing experience. There are pieces in the show which are close to home and some nights I’ve just sat behind the stage and cried. But it is a good way to deal with things – now we have a voice and people are listening.”

    Baby/Lon is at Hackney Downs Studios, 17 Amhurst Road, E8 2BT until 3 May.