Popular ideas and critical theories about “theatre” have changed a lot since 1976. But at that time, when a group of multi-disciplined artists formed what is now IOU Theatre, they did so as part of an effort to challenge traditional notions of art as particular to certain forms and certain styles of public presentation. In the years since 1976, IOU has created a reputation for distinctive productions, which combine a range of artforms in a variety of contexts. Daring and innovative, the company’s latest production, Tattoo, provides an insight into the IOU philosophy, and an example of the way in which innovation can equal good business strategy.
In 1976, reflects IOU Executive Producer Richard Sobey, art was considered very much a ‘sole activity with sole form of public presentation’. Sobey, who has been with IOU for ten years, says that in opposition to that notion, the company came together to explore what happens when different artforms and different ways of viewing art are combined.
‘When it came to representing the results of this exploration,’ he says, ‘it became very clear very quickly that the most appropriate context [for cross-artform works] was theatre… so we do outdoor theatre and indoor theatre, but we also make gallery work, film, television, installations, radio and webwork.’ It may sound complicated, but Sobey points out that the diversity works positively in regard to generating interest and attracting promotion. ‘We work across a variety of media, so what we do is identify the context most suitable to the theme that we’re exploring,’ he says. ‘And that has huge effects for partnering promoters and developing work.’
Certainly, for an arts company with only three permanently-listed staff, strategic planning and promotion would seem integral to its survival. Having survived for almost thirty years, IOU Theatre and its latest production Tattoo, highlight the way in which combined business strategy and artistic innovation make for a powerful force.
‘We are a small business, a group of artists who have been around for twenty to thirty years, which is great for a small business,’ says Sobey. ‘But the reason we’re still around is because we work strategically. The strategy behind Tattoo was to create a work for an international festival network that could actually provide detail and immersion in a world for an audience of up to 2000… As a company we were keen to produce a show that [could be] seen by a large number of people but [still be] extremely cost effective to tour.’
Co-commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival, Bradford International Festival, Big in Falkirk and The Streets of Brighton, Tattoo explores the rites and rituals of the insect world through a cast of dancers, mechanics and mechanical structures – all from within an audience of 2000 people.
It’s a simple concept: a 30-foot high ‘egg-laying structure’ spouts gigantic eggs that are spotted by an army of insect characters who decide they want to farm the eggs and so attack. ‘We were interested in the rights and rituals of insects and the sort of roles they take,’ says Sobey. ‘And we easily made the connection between things like that and tattoos like the Edinburgh Tattoo.’ The simplicity of the subject matter, however, is compensated for by the production’s artistic style and technical complexity.
‘We’ve got a 7 ½ tonne lorry, a 40 foot-long trailer in a tractor unit, an egg-layer built around a scissor lift and an insect hive built around a Land Rover, so yes, it’s a big show and in some ways difficult to tour,’ Scobey laughs. ‘But when we sell the show to festivals, we give them a fee and there are actually very few costs on top of that. We don’t need electricity at all, we don’t need any lighting or a lighting rig and we don’t need sound equipment. To keeping costs down for the promoter, which enables touring, we’ve built lighting into some of the characters. The structures have lighting and we have characters that snake through the audience with gigantic halogen lights built into their costumes.’
Sound systems too, are built into the characters, a factor which Scobey says contributes to the audience’s immersive experience. ‘We wanted to create a large scale work where we manage to interact with the audience in a way that would blur the interface between “audience” and “show”,’ Scobey explains. ‘So we don’t have a set of speakers that just push sound into space. Each of the characters moves through the audience with a sound system built into it, so the egg layer does make deep guttural sounds and does whine when eggs are stolen from it. Part of that immersive experience too is the fact that very low frequencies are not heard but they are physically felt. We were interested in exploring that as a way of enveloping the audience [in addition to the use of smells and interaction] because for us there is fulfillment and satisfaction in having people involved with us in our world.’
Sounds wonderful. And yet, Tattoo, with its immersive approach, festival-sized audiences, mechanical structures and vibrating sound frequencies, sounds also like a health and safety nightmare. Sobey agrees with a laugh that says ‘tell me about it.’
“We have interacted with the audience many times before,’ he says. ‘We’ve manipulated the audience, split them into groups and all sorts of things. What we’ve never done before is move [through the audience] gigantic structures and human-sized insect characters with petrol engines strapped to their backs.’ Rather than hire a production manager for Tattoo then, Sobey says that IOU employed an entire production company for support that was ‘absolutely invaluable’.
At the same time however, Sobey insists IOU is not a company motivated by ‘spectacular events’ such as Tattoo. ‘It is more important for us to create a world that is fully logical and fully created rather than big,’ he says. ‘We’re keen to create worlds that are wholly believable and have their own internal logic. Tattoo may contain elements that are fantastical, but during its presentation everything has its own logic. Working with smaller audiences, [the politics of detail and logic] is quite easy, but for a large-scale outdoor event it becomes very interesting.’
For remaining ‘Tattoo’ performance dates, please see the list below.
Saturday June 14, 10pm
Bradford International Festival, Exchange Court Car Park, Bradford.
Saturday June 21, 10.30pm
Outside the Palm House, Sefton Park, Liverpool L17 as part of the River Festival
Saturday July 26, 10pm
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich Arsenal, London as part of Greenwich and Docklands International Festival
Saturday August 2, 9.30pm
Stockton International Riverside Festival, Riverside Park, Stockton-on-Tees
