Charting 12 years of European touring with one of the foremost experimental theatre groups of the time, Offstage: The Pip Simmons Theatre Group is a photographic record with over 200 black and white photos and written testimonials from the people who were there. Photos taken by company member and performer Sheila Burnett before she started her 40-year career in theatre photography, the book is a backstage insight into the productions. We sat down with Sheila to discuss her career.
You weren’t just documenting the Pip Simmons Theatre Group, you were living inside it as a performer. How did being part of the work change what you choose to photograph, and what you instinctively knew to capture?
I had been taking photos for fun and love of photography since 1969 so nothing really changed when I joined the group in 1974 except the company happened to be full of individuals who were happy to show off in idle moments. It never occurred to me the photos would survive 50 years, actually some of them didn’t, it still hurts to think about those lost photos. When we were touring I had to wait months before seeing the result, I carried rolls of film around with me and when back in London rushed in to the dark room to see what had turned out, a thrilling moment.
The photos in Offstage were taken almost casually “on the hoof,” yet they’ve become a rare historical record of experimental theatre. At what point did you realise these images were more than personal souvenirs?
I didn’t realise the photos would be of interest to anyone until 2016 when I met Susan Croft & Jessica Higgs-Unfinished Histories. They were documenting the explosion of alternative and political theatre 1968 through the 70’s and 80’s.They made contact with me because they wanted to know more about Roger Perry a brilliant Time Out photographer who had died in 1991; I knew him well. It was at this meeting I showed them my scruffy scrap book of 6×4 prints, they expressed sufficient interest for me to find the negatives, go back in time, visit the past and digitise my archive already 40 years old. … this is where it started, this is when I scanned the negs and digitally archived hundreds of photos.
Pip Simmons’ work was often described as confrontational, excessive, even dangerous. Looking back now, what do you think that kind of theatre was trying to shake loose — in audiences, and in the artists making it?
I had a baptism of fire at the Oval House when I went to see The People Show in 1973, an eye-popping unpredictable vision of bizarre theatre . A seed was planted! What is this! Who are they! I want to see more! Peter Oliver ‘Father of the Fringe’ was the visionary who created The Oval House; a home for experimental theatre. I hadn’t met Pip at this stage, this was to come soon after. I look back on these times and imagine this type of theatre was created for a different audience, an audience like me, an audience who wanted more than words, no fourth wall, a different discipline, a visual experience, an Immersive experience before the term Immersive was re-invented 20 years later.
You mention the emotional impact of digitising the negatives decades later. What surprised you most when you revisited those images with the distance of time and a long career behind you?
At first, pain. I had to be prepared to go back to the raw memories the friends who had gone. When I got over that and looked at the photos digitally I could see them differently, looking at them for the first time. The days of a wet darkroom were well and truly over, digitally I could give each photo an individual identity, they stopped being snaps they became photos that I could marvel at! Did we really do that! No mobile phones, no internet and yet we always arrived on time and never missed a show (actually once, see page 103) The surprise was the photos were more beautiful than I remember, I compare digital with analogue and yes there is a difference. Analogue has immediacy a sweet sadness, not sure why.
Offstage captures a period when theatre companies could tour Europe with a freedom and support that feels almost unimaginable now. What do you think has been lost, and what, if anything, has been gained in today’s theatre landscape?
I was 26 the youngest, Pip 30 the eldest, the company of approx 13 were young at the peak of some creative energy doing barmy things for creative reasons. I’m only aware of this freedom now, I took it for granted at the time. You could compare it to ‘Punk’ it ran its course… an innocence has been lost! My relationship with theatre changed when I left in 1986 and with it a change of career as production photographer. I found a new and different love for theatre watching, looking, learning and realising the process is the same; highly collaborative, rehearsals, pre-production and then the first night, you simply cannot predict a show’s worth until it has an audience, they soon let you know. Some things don’t change.
Pip Simmons said “remember the good times and laugh, and be sad for those who are gone.” After re-releasing the book, what do you hope readers, especially younger artists, take away from this moment in theatre history?
Looking at the photos in this book, we are having a great time, when weren’t larking about we were totally committed to our work. 50 years ago we navigated the world with less instant information, no smartphone, internet or social media. Fast forward 50 years; I wrote everything on blog and Canva; Offstage wouldn’t have been possible 50 years ago. We baby boomers travelled through a digital revolution. If smartphones existed back in 1977 we would all have a photo of Emil doing his handstand on the roof of Milan Cathedral. Our world was simpler, more limited, a youth culture that demanded local hangouts and deeper personal connections. We paid fewer dues to the generation before us but benefited hugely from an unimagined Millennial future. Every generation finds it own strengths.