Birth & beyond

Following the success of The Nature of Forgetting, Theatre Re bring Birth – their latest work in progress – to the Wilde Theatre in Bracknell, writes Peter Anderson

That is it we carry deep down within ourselves from the very beginning? Diving into a world of myths, legends, fairytales, folk songs and taking inspiration from the fields of neuroscience and psycho-genealogy, Theatre Re will use their trademark mix of mime, live music, sound, light, costumes and props to explore what is passed between generations and how this shapes us.

Theatre Re are an associate company of South Hill Park and Guillaume Pigé, their founder and artistic director has many happy memories of Bracknell, he tells me. “We absolutely love bringing our work to SHP! It is always our first port of call and has nurtured numerous projects at early stages. We have fond memories of performing in 2012 and in 2013. Then the stage of The Wilde was the largest we had ever been on. We could not be more excited to share our newest discoveries in July!”

What are the advantages of putting a play in development in front of a live audience? “It gives us a deadline, otherwise we could keep exploring for a very long time without getting anywhere! Things start off with a few ideas, props to play with but it can also be texts, poems, images, movements or set exercises. We realised having an audience helps us to rediscover and reinvent and sometimes also questions the material that we have created in the rehearsal room. It is also incredibly useful for us to hear people’s feedback very early on. It allows us to gain a better understanding of what we are doing and check it is accessible and meaningful.”

What is it about the human condition that so fascinates him? “I don’t think I’ve ever made a conscious decision about it. After having made a few pieces I realised the common ground to all the different shows was the fragility of the human condition. Birth is very much a continuation of the exploration we started with The Nature of Forgetting about memory, when we explored what is left when memory is gone. With Birth the idea is to look at the same question but from the beginning point of view. What is it that we all start with or what is it that we carry deep down within ourselves from the very beginning. We are exploring genetic and family memory and what it is that we subconsciously inherit from our ancestors.

“There will be a lot of Theatre Re trademarks –sweat, live music, not many words – but also new elements we are playing with… you’ll be surprised”

Birth is on Thursday, 12th July, at 7.45pm at the Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, RG12 7PA, and there will be a post-show discussion. Call 01344 484123 or visit www.southhillpark.org.uk