The Rest Will Be Familiar to You from Cinema is the English language premiere of the play by Martin Crimp. It’s at Bridewell Theatre 25 – 27 June, part of a double bill of Greek tragedy inspired shows with After the Fall (18 – 20 June), both performed by the MA and MFA actors at Rose Bruford. We sat down with Course Director, Ivan V Talijančić, to discuss the upcoming performances.
The Rest Will Be Familiar to You from Cinema examines the cyclical nature of civil conflict; what is it about Euripides’ story that still feels urgently relevant today?
Ancient Greeks viewed the theatre as a communal learning space, a fictional arena in which the humankind’s worst tragedies could be played out in front of the spectators, prompting them to avoid repeating the same mistakes. At the core of Euripides’ original (as well as in Martin Crimp’s adaptation) is a conflict between two brothers who fail to honour their agreement to share the leadership of their land, leading them to engage in a deadly conflict in which they are eventually both annihilated. This dynamic, unfortunately, has an all-too-familiar ring to it in the context of the present-day global politics, which I believe makes this story highly relatable to the contemporary audiences.
As both director and designer on this production, how did you approach creating a visual world that speaks to a contemporary audience while remaining rooted in Greek tragedy?
When I first read Martin Crimp’s adaptation a year ago, my mind was immediately flooded with vivid images that gave me a compelling road map for staging the play. My approach to directing is multidisciplinary; unlike the traditional theatre, which relies primarily on text, my work relies on richly layered orchestration of images, movement, audio-visual design and language. The beauty of Martin’s text is that he puts antiquity and modernity on a sort of a collision course, and this explosive encounter, infused with many contemporary references, gifted me a rather potent theatrical fodder.
Martin Crimp’s writing often resists easy interpretation; what have you discovered about this play through the rehearsal process that surprised you?
That is one of my favorite features of Martin’s writing — he has an uncanny ability to negotiate in subtleties and ambiguities that engage the theatremakers’ (and audiences’) imagination and offer not just one but indeed a multitude of possible interpretations. Unlike any other play that I can remember, I discovered that the more I essentially surrendered myself to the challenges of this rich theatrical material, the more it yielded compelling theatrical solutions. As a result, my work on this production has been running primarily on intuition, I have very much allowed it to be my guiding principle when it came to creative decision making, and I have been enjoying the process a great deal.
Your work with WaxFactory is known for blending disciplines and forms—how has that multidisciplinary approach influenced this production?
In line with the body of work that I have created with WaxFactory across the past three decades, this production is characterised by a distinctly hybrid approach. My work with the actors is relying on visceral physicality, mediated use of spoken word, strong images conveyed through scenery, costumes, lighting and video, and an immersive, evocative soundscape. Rather than relying on any single of these performative languages, it is the orchestration of them that creates meaning for the audience.
This production serves as a final showcase for emerging actors before they enter the profession; what has working with this particular company brought to the piece?
I am genuinely thrilled to be working with a company of such committed, talented actors on this production. The main cast is comprised of ten actors from the postgraduate acting course I lead at Rose Bruford College; and the chorus (the “Girls”, as they are referred to in the script) is embodied by the final year undergraduate performers from our European Theatre Arts programme. What they bring to this project is a certain fearlessness and unbridles imagination, which has genuinely been thrilling for me to work with as the director. We are still three weeks ahead of the premiere, and I can’t wait to see their performances grow and evolve as we prepare for the opening in late June.
Greek tragedies often focus on the consequences of decisions rather than the decisions themselves—what conversations do you hope audiences leave having after watching the play?
As I mentioned earlier, Martin Crimp’s play uses an ancient text as a point of departure and refashions the narrative in a strikingly contemporary manner. There is a kind of timelessness to it, it is a cautionary tale with a conflict at its core that could have been pulled from today’s evening news. I believe it will prompt the audience to ruminate on the destructive nature of political conflicts that continue to plague the human race and the damage they leave in their wake.