Made In China: On consumption, collaboration and the rules of creation.

Written for Exeunt

Made In China’s Tim Cowbury and Jessica Latowicki share their sentences in the same way they are hungrily sharing a piece of quiche during the get-in for We Hope That You’re Happy (Why Would We Lie?) at the Battersea Arts Centre. That is, seamlessly and efficiently. Their work is “like a tennis match” a bubbly Latowicki explains, “where we’re just shooting the balls back at each other.”

Since 2009, when the pair were thrown together at Goldsmiths College, Cowbury and Latowicki have been making shows that are at the ‘juncture of playwriting and live art’. Whilst the initiative was a bold move on Goldsmiths part, this successful partnership was the result of a lucky and unique alchemy. “All of the playwrights had to collaborate with all of the performance makers from two different MA courses” Cowbury says while looking wryly at Latowicki “and I think we are the only ones in the history of, however many years that it’s been happening, that’s ended well. Because I think playwrights tend to be scared shitless of the performance artists…” He pauses and Latowicki continues with a laugh: “and the performance artists don’t want other people writing their words down for them. There’s a big fear that if you don’t write your own words it’s not your work anymore. But I was like ‘Oh look! Someone who writes better than I do! Useful.’”

Their relationship works so well because they do not adhere to these prejudices and concerns, instead finding a freedom in the fluidity of their collaboration. Their ability to defy expectation is perhaps one of their strongest talents; it’s interesting how quickly I find myself falling into the standard idea of how their creative backgrounds will define the roles they play within the company; I automatically assume that the structured nature of their work comes from Cowbury’s playwriting background. In actuality nothing could be further from the truth: “It comes more from Jess as a performance artist actually.” “Me!” Latowicki breaks in, “I really like structure. I think that by having a clear structure you can get away with things.”

Exeunt Critics’ Picks of 2011

LOTS of fabulous picks here by some people who really know their stuff including some expected and not so expected pieces. Wish I could have mentioned London Road, wish I could have seen Mission Drift…

Originally published on Exeunt

Of course we are wary of the arbitrary nature of these things, the artificiality of seasons, the ordering of experiences into peaks, the hierarchal maps they reproduce, the dangers of placing Fabulous ones next to Those who have just broken a vase.  However at some point you have to be practical.  Our critics have valiantly seen a metric stage-tonne of theatre this year, so what better to relive with sufficient context their most notable moments? And from here it looks like they have produced a list unrivalled for its scope, depth and surprises.  So without further ado-ing, and in no particular order…

The Yard & Stationary Excess

It may take you a while to find The Yard but once you’ve spotted the big baby pink sign it’s all up hill from there. Like Wilton’s Music Hall or Dalston Old Boy’s Club, sometimes the best places are the hardest to find. The Yard, an ultra-cool new pop up theatre space in Hackney Wick, is shaping up to be one such off-piste treasure.

Strolling up to the incredibly friendly bar staff any inhibitions I had at being somewhere so hipster were laid to rest. Beer is a reasonable £3 (£2 last weekend for Hackney Wicked) and if you’re hungry they’ve got a kind of tapas on toast menu, which is yummy. It’s rough and ready but what else do you expect from a venue thrown up so quickly? And apart from the absence of a card machine at the bar (yet) this station is fully operational (seriously though take cash – there ain’t a machine around for a country mile).

Artistic Director Jay Miller and his creative team have taken a warehouse and converted it into an intimate amphitheatre. Everything is aimed in getting more theatre to more people. For companies there is no hire price and they take home just over half of the box office. For Joe Public there’s an enticing deal with tickets never exceeding £10 so there really is no excuse not to go and partake in a theatrical exchange.

The programme will mingle work from established theatre makers with up and coming theatre directors. In a stonking opening weekend I was lucky enough to get along to see Made In China’s sweet and effortlessly moving Stationary Excess. Stationary Excess shows us superman as human. Jess sits on a bike and transforms in front of our eyes from a woman in a lumber jack shirt to a champagne drenched gangsters moll. She talks about her boyfriend and his ability to fly, and about cat ladies and heartache. It’s small and fragile and makes no sense apart from the comic con coat hanger it rests; but somehow it dazzles in the simplicity of its emotional and physical exploration of change.

Meanwhile for those left in London this August The Yard is bringing an interesting looking programme during this usually Edinburgh centric mont. Currently on are two plays by David Greig, Fragile / Cello, with Walking and Waving a performance by Nina Feldman up next. An exciting programme looks to continue until 31^st October when this venue will disappear.

With its Joan Littlewood inspired ‘get up and go’ attitude The Yard is a ray of sunshine in a gloomy cut filled artistic world. It is our responsibility to support Miller and his team in this endeavour and to prove that in the darkest of times our community can continue to get stronger.

http://the-yard.co.uk/site/

http://www.madeinchinatheatre.com/shows/stationary-excess/