Ferment Fortnight Preview | C-Word Clubhouse
5 Jul 2018Ahead of Ferment Fortnight's riotous return this summer, we caught up with The Coterie to find out all their upcoming show, C-Word Clubhouse. Catch it at Bristol Old Vic 19 - 20 July.
How do you make Climate Change entertaining - but also serious and funny and engaging and suitably weighty but also leave the audience feeling sort of warm and hopeful but not lied to? This is what I’ve been exploring together with The Coterie, a new experimental female focussed theatre company led by director Caitlin McCleod.
Over the past 18 months, along with designer Max Johns and some very game actors, we’ve read a lot of books, done some art therapy, watched cartoons and old TV and performance art and boylesque, had a go at clowning, cried, got angry, been to drag bingo, walked in the woods and asked people to writhe about in fake oil - all to try and see if it’s possible to make a show about Climate Change that doesn’t give false hope or make you want to put your head in the oven.
The first outing of all this is what we’ll be inviting the lovely Ferment audience to come and play with. It’s a genuine experiment and it’s sparkly and made with love.
Ferment has a special place in my heart, both as the home of the first reading of my debut play ‘And Then Come The Nightjars’ and as a festival where I’ve discovered artists that still inspire me today. Even though it’s 5 years since that nerve wracking pant crapping debut at Ferment, it’s still terrifying putting new, untested work in front of audience. However, the brilliant thing about Ferment is that being part of a festival of artists doing it together makes the whole thing feel more like a party and less like an exam.
So what can an audience expect in three words? Nature disco love-in.
Ferment Fortnight kicks off at Arnolfini 9-11 July before returning to Bristol Old Vic for four more nights of scratch theatre 13-21 July. For more info and to book tickets, click here.
