Gary Clarke Company presents:
Wasteland
Newcastle Northern Stage
Wednesday 25th – Thursday 26th
September 2019
As industrial Britain fell, a new subculture
emerged...
Gary Clarke’s Wasteland, the sequel to multi-award winning
show COAL, comes to Northern Stage in September, celebrating the birth of UK
rave culture.
Capturing a pivotal moment in social history, acclaimed
choreographer Gary Clarke’s explosive Wasteland explores that time when despair
turned into euphoria as the ravaged landscape of post-industrial Britain was
transformed by the illegal rave culture of the 1990s and for an instant, it seemed
music and dance might save the day.
Created to mark the 25th anniversary of the demolition of
Grimethorpe Colliery in South Yorkshire and 30 years since the rise of UK rave
culture, Wasteland is a thrilling yet deeply touching dance theatre production
and the eagerly-awaited sequel to Clarke's multi-award winning hit COAL.
The show comes to Newcastle as part of its autumn tour,
with performances at Northern Stage from 25 – 26 September.
The striking miners of COAL fought for their families,
their livelihoods, their communities, their futures and for an industry...but
what happened to the families who survived the epic year-long battle of the
Miners’ Strike of 1984/85?
Wasteland looks at how two different generations coped in
this turbulent era of radical upheaval as industrial Britain fell and a new
subculture emerged.
As one generation grinds exhaustedly to a halt, the next
generation heads into the illegal rave scene of 1990s Britain, where derelict
warehouses and abandoned work spaces become home for a new community of music
and dance.
“For our generation, the future was very bleak with very
little prospect. The rave culture gave many of us the opportunity to escape
these grim and grey realities and into a new world of music and dance where we
could express our inner feelings, desires and frustrations. My passion for dance
grew from this discovery” remembers Gary Clarke
In 1994, Gary Clarke joined family, friends and neighbours
to witness the downfall of Grimethorpe Colliery, an act of ruination that not
only marked another nail in the coffin of Britain’s miningindustry but also added
to the destruction of the working-class community that surrounded it.
Wasteland is based on Gary’s own experience of reaching
maturity at the height of the rave movement and also on many hours of
interviews with former miners and with people who, like him, found escape
through rave’s music and alternative sub culture.
And by studying the movement of rave captured in archive
footage, he found a way to take something improvised, spontaneous and free and
transform into a structural but still exhilarating form of theatre.
The show brings together Clarke's blistering physical dance
language performed by a company of exceptional dancers - headed by COAL’s lead
dancer Alistair Goldsmith as the Last Miner and Reece Calver as The Boy - and a
cast of 4 male singers (unique to each venue) from local and surrounding
communities, playing the role of the Pit Men Singers - a total of 76 men
throughout the tour of 18 venues nationally in 2019/20.
Also, on stage will be two brass musicians, specially
selected for every venue from the 14 championship brass bands who made such a
vital and important contribution to the success of COAL.
“Like COAL communities are at the heart of Wasteland and it
felt wrong to make a new show about communities without involving them." Explained
Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke is looking forward to bringing Wasteland to the
North East “I hope North East audiences will connect to Wasteland because it
deals with a northern working class story about social and political history
that is imbedded deep in Newcastle’s (and the North East’s) veins. Newcastle
and the surrounding areas were home to many coal mines all of which was destroyed
at the hands of the government, leaving villages and towns in total despair.
The North East, like many other areas had to find a way of coping and Wasteland
looks at this. You have only to look at local film Billy Elliot to see the ripple effect
this had. Wasteland involves a local live brass band duo and local men from
local mining communities who will play the role of ex-miners, meaning it’s very
special and unique to Newcastle and its people.”
“Newcastle has always had a colourful and vibrant night
life and like many working class towns and cities in the 1990s, found
themselves enthralled in the rave culture. Old ravers can come live out their
years where dance and music felt like it may save the day. Whether you are a
trade unionist still fighting the right for equality, or an old school raver
who remembers the heady days of escapism, Wasteland will appeal to all.”
“My connection with Newcastle and the North East started
almost 20 years ago at the old Dance City building. I took part in an
international dance performance project called ‘Dance Connect’ with Belgian
Choreographer Karine Pointes. We performed the work at the old Gulbenkian
Theatre (now Northern Stage) where we shared a triple bill with some of Liv
Lorent’s early works. Since then, Dance City have supported my work in
development and I have built a strong connection with the region. In 2005 I was
invited to take up residence at Dance City under their Professional Residency Programme
where I developed work as part of a collective called ‘The Core’ with
balletLORENT Creative Associate Gavin Coward.”
“I then performed as a dancer with balletLORENT for seven
years in their touring productions of Designer Body, Blood Sweat and Tears,
Angel Moth and Rapunzel. I still have a very strong relationship with the
company and their work. In 2017 we brought my award-winning production COAL to
Dance City which was an immediate success with audiences and critics alike
selling out three consecutive nights. I have recently choreographed touring
work on the 3rd year degree students at Gateshead College as well as teaching
professional class at Dance City under their professional class programme. I
was a key figure in advising and helping curate the first ever (and now
award-winning) Curious Festival with Phil Douglas.”
Rare archive film footage brings the era to life -
capturing both the tragedy of mining’s last days and the exhilaration of rave’s
roots - along with a powerful rave sound score by Charles Webber (who also
created Lighting and VJ designs) and unique art work by Jimmy Cauty, co-founder
of The KLF.
Jimmy Cauty’s appropriated police riot shields were first
created for the Occupy St Pauls eviction in 2012.
Later the Smiley Riot Shields art work was seen to enormous
acclaim in fellow artist Banksy’s Dismaland and Wasteland will be another
opportunity to see these iconic pieces in action.
“It’s not an offence to own a Jimmy Cauty Smiley Riot
Shield but it may be an offence to use the artwork in a riot.” Jimmy Cauty
Bringing all this together into one unforgettable and
compelling night of dance theatre, Wasteland dives head first into a hedonistic
story of loss, hope, escapism and survival.
“To get anything that you need and anything that you
believe in, it’s got to be worth fighting for - if it isn’t worth fighting for
it isn’t worth doing.” A former coal miner
Wasteland reunites the production and creative team that
made COAL such a major hit with both critics and audiences.
The producer of Wasteland is Gary Clarke’s long time mentor
and collaborator
Annabel Dunbar.
Dramaturgy is by Lou Cope, with costumes and set by
designer Ryan Dawson Laight and other sound design by Daniel Thomas. Musical
Direction is once again by Steven Roberts, bringing outstanding community
singers and brass musicians to the stage at each venue. Gary Clarke Company
dancers are: Alistair Goldsmith, Reece Calver, Robert Anderson, Emily Thompson Smith,
Elena Thomas Voilquin and Jake Evans.
Recommended age – 14+
Photography: Joe Armitage
Tickets:
0191 230 5151.
