Slow Down Theatre
Dramatist Michael Benenson leads a workshop at the Albany theatre on 25 April 2009 exploring themes of speed, communication and ‘slowing down’ in our daily lives and our relationships with others. He tells Alex Rankin what it’s all about.
What is the ethos behind the Slow Theatre workshop?
The plan is to bring together about 16 actors aged 13 to 40 and work with them and their responses to the massive pressures of living in London. Some will be more obvious than others, such as the rush hour, but it will also look at people’s lack of conversation with each other. There will be about a 25 minute performance as a direct response to this.
Do you have an idea as to how this might be done?
The workshop is open to interpretation, but there is some structure in place. One idea is for the performance to take the shape of a family in transit through the pressure zones of London. There will be some organic music to compliment the performance and a lot of physical theatre involved.
What are you hoping to achieve from it?
I’m very interested in the differences between living here compared with France or Italy where everyone talks to each other. Here, you get on a train and no one even wants to look at each other. I wanted to respond to that. I hope that will be a part of it, but it’s up to the group.
I would hope that people will go away from this in a more civil frame of mind so that next time they get on a train they might even say good morning. If that happens, a ripple effect is created.
The workshop will culminate in a performance at 17:30, open to all. More information here.
