I first worked with Jules Tipton during the final year of my degree at East 15 Acting School. Jules was directing and I was performing and assistant directing for the devised show, ‘The Last Resort,’ which aimed to lift the veil on the Asian tourist industry and expose the hidden sexual slavery going on in East Asia’s most luxurious hotels. Jules’ attention to detail where research and discovering truth both in character and in politics are concerned is second to none. It is that and her many witticisms, that have endured throughout our subsequent friendship. I spoke to Jules in the ambient setting of London’s Barbican Centre where Jules had just finished a day’s teaching with her students at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Though now working predominantly as a Director and Teacher, Jules’ career began in Acting. From the outset her work always had a community focus and she gained several roles in Community Theatre productions and Theatre in Education alongside some Television. This led to working in workshop facilitation and by virtue a level of direction. Though the repertory system had all but disappeared, there were companies and theatres still producing work in that way and Jules first taste with more traditional Theatre came when she joined The Everyman in Cheltenham, performing in ‘Lark Rise.’ This was an adaptation of Flora Thompson’s literary work, which many will know via its later Television treatment as ‘Lark Rise to Candleford.’ As well as furthering Jules’ acting career it gave her the chance to collaborate with The Albion Band who provided the folk soundtrack to the show. ‘I can get a tune out of almost anything,’ Jules asserted when I asked her what instruments she plays. The Guitar, keyboards, concertina, harmonica, Mandolin, and of course her very own voice. After around 8 years of acting, Jules began to tire of the craft and the creative restraint being put on her as an Actor. ‘I don’t know if I gave up acting or it gave me up… I was trying to fit into a box that someone else wanted to put me in. [I didn’t want] to compromise my politics for the sake of a performance. That was one of the reasons why I went back to music.’ Jules left the acting world to pursue a career as a singer songwriter, creating and performing acoustic songs that had, ‘a close connection with the audience [and were] centred on the text.’ As with her theatre work now, Jules wanted to write songs that, ‘meant something and had a connection with the audience.’ Though still performing, Jules had left acting for music as a way of retaining artistic and political control, but it has also had a longstanding effect on her work. ‘It’s very scary when all you’ve got between you and an audience is a Guitar and a microphone, but it’s made me braver.’ I wondered what Jules’ inspirations were. She told me about an early champion of her work, the actor David Suchet who supported her in the early stages of her work: ‘When I auditioned at Cheltenham he took me through a piece of Shakespeare, which I had never done before.’ It was watching Suchet in an RSC production of The Tempest and seeing how, ‘the world could be created and someone sitting in a plush seat could be transported,’ that gave Jules a real sense of the power and scope that theatre had. ‘The most recent practitioner that has made the biggest impression on me is Mike Alfreds… I learned the different positions of a narrator and the way movement and fabric can be used in performance.’ After finding her own acoustic style and becoming a well-received singer/ songwriter Jules began to re-join the world of Theatre, but this time as a Director: ‘When I was performing I used to like seeing the big picture, and as an actor you don’t always have the chance to have an input on that.’ But it is important to point out that Jules is most interested in collaboration: ‘I’m not one of those Directors that sits behind a table. That creates a barrier. Even when I’m working with text I like to be on the floor with [the actors]. That way I’m on the journey with them, I’m not just giving them the map and telling them where to go.’ Many Directors follow specific methodologies and styles in their work, I wondered what had influenced Jules. In truth, Jules plays by her own rules, though she points out some early inspirations as coming from the political Theatre Companies of the 70s and 80s such as Monstrous Regiment and Gay Sweatshop which carried a more Brechtian style of presentation. However, Jules points out: ‘one of the things I enjoy is working with actors to find characters that have a truth and an honesty, which is more like Stanislavski.’ Much like myself, Jules has also been subtly influenced by the work of Joan Littlewood whose centenary is being celebrated this year (2014). Littlewood’s use of real people's stories and the way she used improvisation to explore characters has hugely influenced Jules’ work. Certainly, Jules has specialist skills as a Director, and there are, as she puts it, ‘common threads,’ in her work, but I wanted to know whether Jules considered herself a specialist. ‘No. What I find quite frustrating sometimes is people who say, ‘oh you do devising,’ and I say, ‘yes but I also do bloody good text work. It’s a resistance to being pigeon holed.’ Jules is currently working back at East 15 Acting School with the graduate year of the World Performance course, directing their Applied and Political Theatres show. This was the project where I first met Jules so naturally I was keen to find out more. Jules explained that her students are looking into Homelessness both as a global issue, and local to Southend-On-Sea where the school is based. ‘I am encouraging them to find stories from real people.’ I wondered too, with all the many global political issues currently taking precedent in the media, what led her students to settle on homelessness as a topic of exploration? ‘The students saw the local presence of homelessness and were motivated by how often we walk past homeless people and don’t see them. They wanted to make the inviable visible. They want to create a piece of theatre that is going to make the audience sit up and take notice; that will make them challenge their preconceptions.’ I asked Jules which of her projects she was most proud of. ‘Sailing to Britain,’ was her immediate answer. This was a large scale heritage project which Jules directed and co-ordinated with Tara Arts alongside Artistic Director Jatinter Verma and playwright Nicholas McInerny. ‘[The project] explored the untold stories of Lascars who were Sailors that worked on the East India Trading Company ships. Mainly they hailed from South East Asia and China [and we showed] how they became part of the communities in the east end of London and the way in which the East India Company abandoned these workers once they got to Britain. ‘The project encouraged young people to engage with their own migratory history.’ Jules has worked prolifically both on new writing and devising as well as classic drama, so I wanted to know which English language play Jules most wanted to direct that she hadn’t had the chance to yet. Though Jules gave mention to Middleton and Dekker’s ‘The Roaring Girl,’ and Arthur Miller’s, ‘The Death of a Salesman,’ she did have to admit: ‘What play would I like to work on? I don’t know that it’s been created yet. I enjoy making my own work and collaborating with a writer.’ So what advice would Jules give to someone just starting out? ‘The advice that was given to me by a school drama teacher: ‘be aware of your own limitations and act on them. Don’t ever stop learning, keep the hunger, strive for the best you can. If I ever feel like I’ve stopped learning or that I know everything then I would stop and do something else.’ And what about the future? ‘If I can tell accessible stories that mean something to somebody then that’s all I can hope for. I want to get people to think that Theatre doesn’t just happen in a box.’
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On a mild September day in Crouch End I had the pleasure of speaking with my old colleague Becka McFadden. I assisted Becka on the St James Theatre performance of The Return for Legal Aliens Theatre Company of which she is Associate Artistic Director. In all our various interactions since, I have been enthralled by her wealth of knowledge and eloquent communication, so she became a natural choice for my series of Theatre Specialist interviews. Becka heralds from the Pennsylvania town Hershey, home of the chocolate bar and attended Villanova University near Philadelphia before moving to London in 2007 intending to study at LISPA. She left after just one term but remained in the UK and went on to study for a PhD at Goldsmiths University. She now works as a Director, Dramaturge, Teacher and Performer specialising in Czech theatre, physical theatre and new writing and translation. But what led her to become the artist she is today? Her early inspiration and continuing collaboration is the result of a year spent living in Prague during a break from her MA: ‘I taught English while I was in Prague and I also made theatre with a group of interesting international actors.’ She explained that the film industry in Prague brought a lot of different artistic voices to the city. ‘The film [industry] allowed actors to live and create more artistically interesting theatre without worrying about it being commercially viable.’ I wondered whether our own theatre scene in the UK could learn a thing or two from the Czech Republic; Becka explained: ‘The biggest difference is that there’s still a repertory system there that’s very healthy… it allows for experimentation, sometimes the money actors earn in the repertory system subsidises projects that are more experimental.’ All of us that pursue, have pursued, or want to pursue a career in Theatre can probably cite a particular experience that led us to that decision. For me it was probably a school production of Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan that led me to where I am now. I wanted to know what it was that made Becka turn to the Theatre. Like so many great Theatre practitioners of the past, Becka had notions of becoming a Lawyer. It is fitting then that the production which Becka worked on at Villanova during the end of her undergraduate degree; which cemented her desire to work in theatre, was Moises Kaufman’s verbatim drama The Laramie Project. ‘The Laramie project is about Matthew Shepherd, who was a gay student at the University of Wyoming… one night two local townies picked him up and drove him to a fence outside of town, they tied him to the fence, they beat him to within an inch of his life and they left him there and he eventually died of the wounds he sustained. ‘[Kaufman and his company] went and interviewed the towns people, who were asking the same questions as they were… how did this happen? ‘I went to a Catholic University that had a more socially conservative student body than I thought I would encounter when I went there. The process of doing this piece provoked a number of discussions on campus. We didn’t have a gay/straight alliance when we started. As a result of doing this show we were able to organise a panel discussion, and we got our organisation. It showed me that theatre isn’t selfish.’ Though Becka was keen to point out Theatre must work artistically and that its primary goal shouldn’t be as a vehicle for social change, she is aware of Theatre’s political and social power: ‘Any time I’m making something there needs to be a reason why. When I teach dramaturgy I call this the dramaturgical why. How is that decision in dialogue with where it’s being made and the people who are going to see it? When you make theatre with an awareness of where you’re making theatre and you understand that it’s inherently social; it sits within communities and works both artistically and in other ways as well. That’s what [The Laramie Project] taught me.’ We all know that making a career out of art must have its down times, and I wanted to know if there was any time Becka had wanted to quit. ‘When I moved to London in 2007 to go to LISPA. Which was an uninformed decision. I knew that I wanted to study physical theatre… I think I should have done more research because I don’t think Lecoq was ever going to be my route in. The course was run very differently to how I was used to being trained, it was much less personal than I was used to. I didn’t complete the first year even though there are some wonderful things that I’d learned from it’ Becka showed how strong the link between society and theatre making is in her mind when she explained her further difficulty with making theatre in the UK: ‘I don’t know what needs to be made here, I can’t answer the why question, I don’t know what I have to say here yet, because I don’t know what it is.’ Becka had a similar low point recently after finishing her PhD. In both cases it was creating new work that got her back on track. Becka pointed out that: ‘When you don’t know what to do, you do something that you love. You make your own work rather than sitting around waiting for people to give you opportunities and often that produces people to give you opportunities.’ I have often thought that Theatres restorative powers over an audience are mirrored in its affects over actors. Becka ascertained that: ‘We get into really big trouble if we think we are only artists when employed on a production. We think of ourselves as commodities, when we’re not. We’re artists, we have generative powers and we can make our own work. You don’t stop being an artist just because of a run of bad luck with auditions. It’s important to remember one has a practice, just like a musician plays scales every day. One has an identity as an artist that’s independent of every given project.’ I asked Becka whether she considered herself a specialist or not, and what her speciality would be. ‘There are orientating principles that inform all my work. An international perspective. Making work that is well considered in terms of the dramaturgical why, and an awareness to the societies in which it is being made. An attention to working through the body and approaching performance through the body rather than from the text. Whether that makes me a specialist I’m not sure. ‘If I were to say I’m a specialist, which I do sometimes because I think my areas of specialism are physical and devised theatre and new writing and translation and those are things I do that not everyone else seems to. I’m interested in them so then you do more. You realise that you are coming up with a way of doing it. ‘That’s certainly been the case with Legal Aliens with the casting of bi -lingual actors which Is a methodology that we’re invested in as a way of approaching translated material. But is it useful to call yourself a specialist? ‘We all have to create narratives around what we do. Sometimes I say – and I’m only half joking – that I did a PhD to make my CV make sense. And to clarify my narrative which had gotten a bit messy [but] Theatre is a magpie art and everything we learn influences how we work in a holistic way. We bring our previous experiences and we take new lessons onto future projects. At the end of the day making theatre is making theatre.’ Becka’s most recent project was Walthamstow Mysteries, a piece of site specific, promenade theatre written by Deborah Nash that was performed outside on Coppermill fields in Walthamstow Marshes. ‘It was one of the largest projects I have run as a Director in terms of assembling an artistic team and being able to go through a proper casting process. It was great working outside although we did get sun burnt and stung by every sort of nettle and bitten by bugs. It was really cool being there every day, we become very aware of the rhythm of the marshes.’ Becka began to reflect on her own collaborative approach to directing actors: ‘Even though I like the way I work and I want to work that way, every now and then I think ‘if I stand here and admit I don’t know is that really unprofessional?’ and I don’t think it is. [The main role for the director is] facilitation and overall coherence. Dramaturgical coherence.’ And are Directors necessary? ‘Often playwrights do not really know how theatre is made. Some writers don’t understand the process that a text goes through to become playable, and that is the work of rehearsal. You want someone standing outside watching it who is a theatre artist, and I don’t think the writer is always a theatre artist. I’m sure there are [writers] who can do it – I may even know a few - but it’s a hard thing.’ I wanted to know which of Becka’s projects she was most proud of. For obvious reasons, The Laramie Project had to be mentioned. Also the multi-lingual production of The Winter’s Tale which Becka performed in with Parrabbola for its innovative use of language. I asked her whether she saw more multi-lingual performance being made in Britain. Although she has hopes and has said that Legal Aliens is looking into ways of making bi-lingual Shakespeare, Becka reflects that, ‘In Britain it’s hard to get that type of work made, because there’s so much emphasis on the playwright.’ But most of all, Becka is very proud of her current endeavour Backstories which she is devising with her collaborator and friend Scheherazaad Cooper – an Actor and classically trained Indian Odissi dancer. They have been fortunate to find development opportunities both in the UK and Czech Republic and will present an extract at Sadler’s Wells in London in October. The piece is a non-text based series of solos and duets exploring the back body and how our lives and tensions are played out through the back. Becka admits that the amount of positive feedback in this experimental project has made her very proud. But what about the future? I wanted to know which English language play she would most like to work on that she hasn’t had the chance to yet. ‘Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal’ which follows the story of a young woman restricted by societies expectations to the point that she murders her husband and is subsequently executed by electric chair. ‘I love expressionist plays. I love the rhythm of the language. It’s grounded in such a genuine emotional reality while also being really heightened stylistically.’ Becka reflects that while the play still speaks to a particular female experience, dramaturgically it now works on a different level: ‘I think it speaks to an experience of coming out of University and thinking, ‘I have to get a job, I have to get a job, it may make me really unhappy but I have to get a job.’ Becka closed the interview with a good piece of advice. Something which students and graduates alike should listen to very carefully, and which even Becka has to remind herself of from time to time: ‘There’s no moment where you feel like you’re good enough. When I was young I was over concerned with external validation but the only way through is work and time. Those of us who find our way into this field are all inclined to be good at it. There’s really no replacement for time and work. Work a lot, even if it’s just on yourself.’ *Becka McFadden is a performer, director, devisor and dramaturg, working primarily on devised physical theatre, new writing in translation and community-based theatre projects. She holds an MA in Theatre from Villanova University (PA, USA) and a PhD in Theatre & Performance from Goldsmiths, University of London. Recent directing credits include The Walthamstow Mysteries (Coppermill Fields, Walthamstow Marshes); Commodity (Theatre Lab Company, Riverside Studios); and The Return (LegalAliens, St. James Theatre Studio). With Scheherazaad Cooper, she is co-creator of BackStories, currently in development with support from Arts Council England, Canada Council for the Arts and Cooltour (Ostrava, Czech Republic). Based in London since 2007, Becka grew up in Pennsylvania and has spent significant time living and working in the Czech Republic and Poland. She is Associate Artistic Director of LegalAliens International Theatre Company and founding Artistic Director of Beautiful Confusion Productions. |
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