Maranta and Post Coal

The Art of Collaboration

We chat to Maranta and Post Coal Prom Queen to find out more about their forthcoming collaborative performances on the opening and closing nights of Hidden Door

Interview: Tallah Brash

Photo: Dan Mosley

Maranta, VOMITON and Chell Young @ Hidden Door 2021

The idea of musical collaborations is not a new one – as Russian Doll’s Nadia would say: “Collaborations. What a concept.” But some of the best music has come from artists working with other artists: Run the Jewels and Zach de la Rocha, Rihanna and Jay-Z, Vince Staples and SOPHIE, Elton John and Kiki Dee. The list is endless and the possibilities infinite. Edinburgh’s Hidden Door is no stranger to a collaboration, and this year’s festival is no different, with six official collaborative projects taking place across the ten-day-long festival, where contemporary musicians collide with the classically trained, visual artists, choreographers, actors, set designers and more to bring a unique slice of excitement to an already stacked programme. The opening night will see Gloria Black and Callum Govan, aka alt-pop duo Maranta, come together with visual artist Chell Young, costume design collective VOMITON and choreographer Hannah Draper for Maranta in Microsteria, the seed of which was sown during one of the

“Hidden Door are great for just giving you space to be ambitious and do silly things”

pandemic’s early lockdowns. “Chell was contacted by Hidden Door to do a lockdown show, and she asked for Maranta to be the music,” Black tells us. “She asked us to perform, and then when that went really well we got asked to do Hidden Door last year. David [Martin, Creative Director of Hidden Door] hinted at the idea that we bring in another collaborative element, and I discovered VOMITON on Instagram over lockdown and thought about asking them to do a music video with us. So when David su ested that, we were like, yes, VOMITON, let’s ask them.” “It seemed like a good transition in progression from the live stream show,” Govan adds, “because obviously the pieces that VOMITON make are very physical and textural, so it tied together really well at the last Hidden Door show, the sort of visuals that were on the screen behind us, bringing us and the visuals altogether.” Where last year’s performance was an audiovisual feast, this year, in the surrounds of the 360 degree Debating Chamber of Edinburgh’s Old Royal High School, it’s going to be even more impressive; the show will be performed in the round with Young helping to build a live set, and they’ve brought in choreographer Hannah Draper to help bring the many characters of VOMITON to life through movement. “This sort of collaboration is exciting,” Govan says. “The music is only one part of it, but I’ve felt a lot more connected to the other processes that need to happen to create this show. It’s helped me think about ideas in a different way, not just through the prism of music.” As well as the evening performance, Maranta and co have also been given the green light to take over other parts of the venue throughout the day where you can expect specially curated sound pieces, projections and more. And that same rule applies to Lily Higham and Gordon Johnstone – aka Post Coal Prom Queen – who, on the day of their performance, will be covering the walls of the venue in competing propaganda, projections of public service announcements, satirical adverts and various news stories. All of this will be in anticipation of Music for First Contact, their choose-your-own-ending space opera – yes, you read that right – which will close out this year’s Hidden Door festival. Also taking place in the venue’s Debating Chamber, PCPQ’s collaborators include Stephanie Lamprea (soprano), Baichuan Hui (piano), Laura J Wilkie (violin), Calum Cummins (sax), Johnny

“It’s helped me think about ideas in a different way, not just through the prism of music”

Callum Govan, Maranta

Cypher (rapper), Jai Sharma (‘The Navigator’), Ashley Crawford (‘Propagandist 1’), Fraser McLoughlin (‘Propagandist 2’), Jen McGregor (director), Phil McBride (studio engineer) and John Farrell (photography and videography), who will help bring this one-of-a-kind performance to life. As with all PCPQ music, the pair’s shared love of science fiction lies at the heart of Music for First Contact. Drawing inspiration from Cixin Liu’s The Remembrance of Earth’s Past series and his ‘dark forest theory’, their space opera will be told through the lens of Scottish identity. “You don’t often see Scotland in a very futuristic sort of story or environment,” Johnstone says, “or if you do, it’s quite parochial. We’re trying to imagine what Scotland’s identity would actually feel like in 1000 years, maybe when Scotland doesn’t exist anymore.” With one ending simply not being enough for the pair to focus their creativity on, as part of the interactivity of the performance the audience will get to cast a vote via QR codes as to how the space opera will end. “The thing that everybody’s voting on is, we’ve received a message from an intelligence other than our own: do we speak back to it or do we stay quiet and pretend we’re not here?” Johnstone goes on to later add: “I don’t think anyone’s tried anything quite like this,” before admitting: “We wouldn’t want to be doing this anywhere other than Hidden Door.” “[Hidden Door] are great for just giving you space to be ambitious and do silly things,” Higham says. “They don’t really rein us in at all, which is good and bad.” While both nights promise to offer something completely unique to the Hidden Door crowd, we’re sure it will all be very good indeed, depending on your choice of ending, of course.

Hidden Door runs at the Old Royal High School, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 9-18 Jun; Maranta in Microsteria takes place on 9 Jun; Music for First Contact takes place on 18 Jun

Theatre on a budget: a short guide

The cost of living crisis means that going to the theatre can feel like a luxury we can’t all afford. Here’s how to do it on the cheap

Words: Eliza Gearty

Conservative politicians haven’t shown the greatest sympathy towards people affected by the cost of living crisis lately. In response to growing numbers of people turning to food banks after inflation and energy cost hikes this year, MP Lee Anderson blamed the increase on poor cooking and budgetary skills. “There’s not this massive use for food banks in this country,” he claimed. “We’ve got generation after generation who cannot cook properly... they cannot budget.” Anderson came under fire for his remarks, but fellow Tory MPs backed him up. “Absolutely spot on,” tweeted Brendan Clarke-Smith ; “you’re not going to be able to break the cycle of poverty... if you aren’t honest about poor basic skills around cooking and budgeting,” argued Ben Bradley. Comments like these make it clear that we cannot rely on the people in charge to understand the pressures that many of us are under. And when we’re being encouraged to make meals from 30p a pop, and feeling the squeeze when it comes to energy and inflation, it’s easy to understand why artistic activities can fall by the wayside. But, as Judy Collins once sang, ‘give us bread, but give us roses’: art is good for the soul, and shouldn’t be the preserve of the wealthy. So, in an attempt to make the best out of a bad situation, we’ve rounded up some of the ways you can see theatre on a budget – to keep that soul of yours well fed and watered as times get dark. Check in with your local theatre Some theatres have schemes where you can get heavily discounted tickets if you live in the area. Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre building may be shut right now for refurbishment, but they are still staging shows at the nearby Tramway. If you have a G5 postcode and a Gorbals Card, you can get tickets to any Citizens show for just £2. Over in the city’s East End, Platform offers £4 tickets to members of the free Local Links programme, eligible across eight postcodes.

Comb through free festival programmes Summer is on its way, which means the arrival of Festival season. You’ve probably heard of the Free Fringe, the Edinburgh Fringe’s more budget-friendly counterpart. It’s a fantastic way to see shows without spending a penny. Keep an eye out for smaller local community festivals too – touring productions will often hit them en route. The Govanhill International Festival, an anti-racist festival in Glasgow’s Southside, has a diverse, annual programme of free events, sometimes including theatre and dance. The Southside Fringe, Glasgow Mela and Leith Festival also tend to programme theatre and dance, for free or at affordable prices.

“Better yet, make friends with a reviewer – they sometimes get +1 tickets”

Head to the previews Previews, meaning the first few days of a show, are always cheaper than the rest of a run. Why? The show technically hasn’t opened yet, at least not to critics. Think of it as getting an exclusive look at a show in its purest form, before press have had the chance to break or make the entire company’s hearts.

Check out concessions and affordable ticket schemes Are you young, a student, a senior, unemployed, a person with a disability, receiving low-income benefits or someone with an Equity or other Entertainment Union card? You’ll be eligible for a discount at most major theatres in Scotland. The Traverse offer limited £1 tickets to people under 25 or people receiving low-income benefits. The Citizens also offer a great 50p ticket scheme for full capacity show runs. It’s available to everyone – punters just need to queue up outside the theatre the Saturday before the show opens.

Become a reviewer OK, this one’s a bit different from the others: you do actually have to have a keen interest in arts journalism and strong writing skills to become a reviewer. You can’t just do it for the free tix, but, if you do tick the first two boxes, and are up for swapping your labour for a free show, it could be a good option for you. Whether you’re a student, aspiring critic, or a worker with some spare time who enjoys writing, numerous publications are often looking for new contributors. Check out sites like A Younger Theatre, Broadway Baby and The Wee Review to see if they’re recruiting: you don’t need to be an expert to give it a go, especially if it’s on a voluntary basis. We’re always keen to hear from new writers here at The Skinny too.

Become friends with a reviewer Better yet, make friends with a reviewer – they sometimes get +1 tickets. If you haven’t got a reviewer friend already, they’re quite easy to identify. Just look out for the people desperately trying to write in notebooks in a dark theatre, or annoying everyone else by tapping on their Notes app during the show’s most significant silences. Then corner them at the bar afterwards.

Don’t feel like it’s fair to have to go to these lengths? Reckon that high-quality theatre should be accessible for all without having to scrimp, scheme and schmooze your way into one of those plush, upholstered, restricted view seats? Shame on you, you lazy culture fiends! We’ve given you the tools, now you just need to budget better! Of course, the government could always introduce a windfall tax, scrap the National Insurance rise and introduce a universal basic income to target rising energy prices and stop theatre tickets from sky