at the sharp end Uncovering the Work of Five Contemporary Dramatists Peter Billingham Reader in Drama and Performance School of Creative Arts Films and Media University of Portsmouth ‘I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.’ Walt Whitman, ‘Song of Myself’ LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY At the.indd 1 1/10/2014 7:36:47 PM This page intentionally left blank At the Sharp End is dedicated to Millie and Joshua Bloomsbury Methuen Drama An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2007 by A & C Black Publishers Limited © 2007 Peter Billingham All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Peter Billingham has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as author of this work. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. Visit www.bloomsbury.com to fi nd out more about our authors and their books You will fi nd extracts, author interviews, author events and you can sign up for newsletters to be the fi rst to hear about our latest releases and special offers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: PB: 978-0-7136-8507-7 ePDF: 978-1-4081-4769-6 ePUB: 978-1-4081-4770-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. At the.indd 2 1/10/2014 7:36:47 PM Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii 1 pointing at sharp ends ‒ an introduction 1 Sharpening Up: Reading and Using At the Sharp End 2 1956: Look Back in Nostalgia? 5 2006: Looking Forward – in Expectation? 9 Revisiting My Route 16 Time Zones 19 2 david edgar 24 Interview with David Edgar 25 Speaking in Tongues – Politics, Race and Cultural Identity in the Plays of David Edgar 41 3 david greig 72 Interview with David Greig 73 Inhabitants of the Tide Mark: Towards a New Political Poetics in the Plays of David Greig 94 4 mark ravenhill 124 Interview with Mark Ravenhill 125 ‘We all need stories so that we can get by’ – Sex, Shopping and Postmodern Politics in the Plays of Mark Ravenhill 134 5 tim etchells and forced entertainment 163 Interview with Tim Etchells of Forced Entertainment 164 Falling and Floating in Sheffield – Drunks, Dancers and Late-night Bus Rides: Themes and Strategies in the Work of Tim Etchells and Forced Entertainment 180 6 tanika gupta 203 Interview with Tanika Gupta 204 Navigating a Journey Through a Fragile Land – Themes in the Plays of Tanika Gupta 226 conclusion: sharpening points 249 A Short List of Recommended Further Reading and Indicative Websites 263 acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people for their help and support in the research and writing of this book. First, I would like to thank the five writers whose work is at the very heart and centre of this book for their generosity of time and spirit in agreeing to be included in the book. The subsequent interviews and various other demands upon their time at different stages in the process were engaged in with goodwill and patience. It has been a genuine pleasure to meet with David Edgar, David Greig, Mark Ravenhill, Tim Etchells and Tanika Gupta, and a privilege to talk with them about their work. Second, I would like to thank my editor at Methuen Drama, Mark Dudgeon, for his willingness to support the original concept and proposal for this book and the process of its subsequent evolution. I also wish to express my sincere personal thanks to Sally Njampa for her advice and copy-editing at significant stages. Third, I would like to thank friends and colleagues at the University of Portsmouth who have shown such an encouraging and continuing interest in my researching and writing of this book: (alphabetically) Dr Dave Allen (Head of the School of Creative Arts Film and Media), George Burrows, John Caro, Stuart Olesker, Karen Savage, Gareth Somers, John Stanton and Dr Dominic Symonds (Course Leader for Drama). I also wish to express my thanks to Lawrie Tippins who provided significant technical advice and assistance at a crucial stage in the transcribing process. Also I’d like to thank Rachel Crowther, a Drama student at the University of Portsmouth whose comments upon the work-in- progress gave an invaluable undergraduate’s perspective on the vii At the Sharp End material. Fourth, I would like to acknowledge the ongoing friendship and support of a small but significant number of people whose interest and provocative stimulation over a long number of years has sustained my lecturing, playwriting and theatre-making work. To Edward Bond, a valued friend and mentor and his wife Elisabeth, Professor John Bull (University of Reading), Dr Cesar Villa, Richard Hurford, Velda Harris, Dr Bill McDonnell (University of Sheffield), Dougie Hankin, Nick Drew (Bath Spa University), Dr Roger Grainger and, last but not least, Linda Taylor (University of Huddersfield). Finally, but uppermost in my mind, I want to express my deep, affectionate appreciation to my family for their continuing interest in and support of my writing. To Marilyn, whose faith in this project and my wider creative and professional achievements and endeavours is priceless and profoundly appreciated. Also my pride and joy in the lives of Eve, Chris and Millie, Tom, Sally, Leo and Joshua and William and Ruth. May we all dare to be ‘at the sharp end’ of social justice and progressive change in whatever ways we can, now and in the years to come. Peter Billingham June 2007 viii 1 Pointing at Sharp Ends – An Introduction Sharp ends hurt. Handle with care! Sharp ends aren’t polite. The sharp end is the shouting end. Not the ‘Sorry I’ll go away and come back’ end. Being at the sharp end is being where the action is. Getting involved. Making a point. Something serious is going on. You’ve got to make yourself heard. No looking on or shouting from the sidelines. At the sharp end is out there centre stage making a difference. ‘Come on over here if you think you’re sharp enough!’ That’s the shouted challenge from the mix, the scrum, the scuffle: the sharp end. Talking about sharp ends, what’s the point of contemporary British theatre? Does it have one apart from bums on seats, happy investors and the odd soundbite for the politician at election time? Think Cool Britannia, think froth. Think froth, think empty, think here and then gone. Is that all British theatre has become? What drives it, what are its principal concerns? What kinds of purpose does it have? Who’s bothered enough to go and see it apart from the coachloads from Dudley, Tunbridge Wells and beyond, buying their overpriced ticket to consume interval ice creams watching roller skaters in cat costumes? Or perhaps Abba’s back catalogue hung on a storyline so thin it must break? What value does theatre have in our current world in the first decade of the twenty-first century? Questions like these have fuelled the five conversations at the heart of this book. They’ve been equally provoked through the conversations themselves. ‘To be or not to be?’ It’s a well-worn question that even Hamlet couldn’t answer, yet it’s one we might ask of British theatre today outside the West 1