POWER PLAY

by Steve Adams

“If you are interested in a space to connect, emotionally, with the people in your community in relation to thinking about climate change, this is the play for you.”

Holly Rose Roughan, of award-winning theatre company Headlong, is giving me the lowdown (and maybe a little hard sell) on the company’s latest co-production - A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction - and she’s definitely on a roll.

“It’s a love letter to live theatre. It’s not a show that could happen on televisionyou’ve got to be in the room. It’s a heartbreaking play but also genuinely funny, moving and human.”

The new drama, which visits the Coventry Belgrade Theatre this month, is a call to arms about the climate crisis by American writer Miranda Rose Hall. It comes with an innovative - cynics might suggest gimmickyback story that complements the play’s content but also has the potential to overshadow it.

Not only will the eco-friendly show be powered by bicycles, but an innovative touring model means the only element that actually tours is the script - people and materials do not. In each city a blueprint of the show will be brought to life by local creative teams as part of a ground-breaking experiment in making theatre more ecofriendly.

“Come and be part of an exciting experiment in sustainability, as this has never been done before in the UK,” urges Holly, who took over as Headlong’s artistic director last August, having joined the company in 2019. “Come and be part of innovative live art and connect with your community in a real way.”

The Belgrade’s version of the show will be helmed by local director Nyasha Gudo. Associate director on the recent Birmingham Rep hit, Spitting Image, Nyasha is one of the first cohorts from Headlong’s Origins programme, which supports and nurtures artists outside of London.

Local actor Kimisha Lewis will play the lead role, with support from a community choir and four volunteer cyclists who will power the off-grid production.

The latter might sound like a gimmick, but Holly believes it will bring a fascinating dynamic to the production.

“There’s a moment in the show where you go from the national grid into a bike-powered circuit. The audience will see that transition, see electricity created in real time and see volunteer cyclists powering the remainder of the show.

“There’ll be a real sense of how we power the projectors used in the play, how we power the lights, how we power the sound and how much electricity that all takes.”

As well as demonstrating the arbitrary way resources are used - and in some cases wasted - the local angle of the production is also designed to reflect how communities will ultimately lead the fight against the climate crisis.

“We have to collaborate across industries and across countries in the face of the climate emergency. Everything has got to be bespoke and for the community, so the model of the tour replicates the model of how we’re going to rise up to the challenges we face.”

Community is the central theme of the production, and even though the play is a one-woman show - essentially a monologue from frazzled theatre worker Naomi - Holly believes it transcends that categorisation by creating genuine engagement with the audience.

“The play is as big as there are people in the room. In the Barbican, where the tour begins, it will feel like a 1,000-person play. At the Belgrade, it will feel like however many people are in the room on the night [the Belgrade’s B2 space can hold almost 250 people].

“It’s a story about how we can feel so alone in the context of the climate crisis, but it’s also a story of hope and catharsis, and a place of reconnecting with community. In the words of Miranda Rose Hall, it’s partly a space to come and emotionally process what living through a climate crisis feels like. I think that’s part of what theatre’s role is - it’s not necessarily a consciousness-raising play, it’s a play to come and unpack our feelings towards this big immovable thing.”

But if all that sounds a bit, well, heavy… Holly is quick to point out that the play is also sharp, smart and very funny.

“Miranda is a writer with brilliant line-byline writing, in the same way that many American playwrights who have grown up with sitcoms are very good at witty oneliners. It’s got real intellectual integrity and heft, but it’s people-centred and really acknowledges who’s in the room. There are moments of gentle interaction with the audience.”

The production, which has already ‘toured’ internationally, is Headlong’s second major touring experiment. During the Covid pandemic, the company created Signal Fires, a national festival that saw more than 40 theatre companies telling stories to audiences around fires. It’s hoped that A Play For The Living will create similar community connections, as well as push the envelope in terms of how touring theatre can be made greener.

“There’s a shared aesthetic, a shared heart and a shared set of sustainability guidelines in terms of how we create it, but each production is going to be of that community and will speak to those audiences in a much more specific and bespoke way.

“This is an experiment in a different touring model, but I think what Headlong have been brilliant at in the past, and I hope will continue under my leadership, is being innovators. We’ll always find innovative ways of reaching large numbers of people and audiences, and this is another one of those.

“Our currency as an arts organisation is imagination. It’s really important that we keep deploying that and going, look, we’re capable of creating alternative ways of doing things. This is an experiment; it doesn’t mean we’ll replicate it forever, but it will shape the system and inspire ourselves and the organisations we work with.

“Theatre allows us to collectively imagine an alternative future, and I believe touring companies can be pollinators of that national imagination.”

A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction shows at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, from Wednesday 10 to Saturday 13 May and New Vic Theatre, Newcastleunder-Lyme from Monday 19 to Saturday 24 June

Comedy previews from across the region

Josie Long

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sat 27 May; Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Fri 15 September

Josie Long’s awardwinning comedian pal, Nish Kumar, has referred to her as ‘the David Bowie of standup’ - a description he’s used on account of the 41year-old comic’s impressive capacity for reinventing herself. London-born Long admits she is very much a political animal, but recognises that banging on too much about politics is a near-certain way to alienate an audience. Hence the fact that her latest touring show, Re-Enactment, focuses on ‘changes wrought by time, passion, moving to Scotland, and loving the world under - let’s face itdifficult circumstances’.

Jokes include: “When I was a kid, I asked my mum what a couple was and she said, ‘Oh, two or three’. And she wonders why her marriage didn’t work out...”

Tom Segura

Utilita Arena Birmingham, Fri 12 May

The title of Tom Segura’s current live standup offering, I’m Coming Everywhere, may sound a bit rude but it also has a ring of truth about it - the 44-year-old American comedian is taking the show to more than 200 cities across the globe!

Segura’s been scoring big in the comedy stakes for a long time now - so much so that he boasts numerous Netflix specials. He’s also made a name for himself as an author and podcaster.

Jokes include: “I’d love to learn another language, but there’s too much porn to watch,” and “I hate who I’m becoming socially. With all my social interactions I’m disintegrating into somebody I want to punch in the mouth.”

Wang

Phil Wang’s first-ever five minutes behind the microphone as a standup comedian were spent telling other people’s gags.

“I thought standup was like karaoke with jokes!” he recalls. “Most of the material I used was stolen, but I learned fast and immediately started writing my own

Tom Allen

Birmingham Hippodrome, Wed 17 - Fri 19 May; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 6 & Sat 7 October; Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 10 & Sat 11 November

The always dapper Tom Allen is a master of camp comedy. Often likened in style to legendary raconteurs Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howard, he also doffs his comedian’s cap in the direction of Michael McIntyre and Eddie Izzard.

Tom is visiting various Midlands venues across the next few months with his new touring show, Completely.

“The title is about finally being completely grown up,” Tom told beyondthejoke. “I finally moved out of my parents’ home at the tender age of 38. I use the show to talk about getting used to having my own home, how stressful it is buying a mattress. Also, you know, being an adult means that your friends are adults, which sometimes means their children coming around and wanting to chip the paint off the wall...

“I lost my dad a couple of years ago, so I talk about that, too. I think it’s important to talk about all of life and not be afraid of it.” material.”

Inspired to become a comedian by his desire to avoid having to get up in the mornings, Phil describes his style of humour as smart, cheeky but always changing. He visits the Midlands with his touring show, Wang In There, Baby!

Scummy Mummies

Lichfield Garrick, Thurs 4 May; Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Wed 24 May; Old Rep, Birmingham, Fri 26 May; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Tues 3 October

“Our speciality is comedy for less-thanperfect parents - so that means all parents!” says Ellie Gibson about Scummy Mummies, her popular double act with Helen Thorn.

“Our live comedy shows cover a wide range of parenting topics - from pelvic floors and play-dates to farting and fish fingers...

“Expect songs, sketches, standup and very scummy stories!”