It may come as a surprise to some that the Artistic Director of one of Britain’s longest-standing street theatre companies, which has been disturbing the fabric of society with its eccentric brand of humour – from Europe to Asia and beyond – since 1969, is the world’s most unlikely actor.
‘I used to laugh in class all the time,’ muses Ralph Oswick, of the Natural Theatre Company, when asked if he has always been a bit of a mischief-maker. ‘Me and my mate used to have our desks turned around to face the wall! I was terrible. But, I was also unbelievably, pathologically shy. I didn’t intend to be an actor at all.’
It was purely by fate that in the late 1960s, Oswick was invited to Bath by a group of actor friends keen to employ his theatre design skills to polish up their show.
‘And I ended up being in it, of course, and everybody laughing…I suppose it’s quite common for shy people to dress up and end up being actors,’ he says.
Over 30 years later, Oswick is still the Artistic Director of the company he co-founded in Bath in 1969 – the Natural Theatre Company. The organisation is regarded as one of the purveyors of street theatre in the UK, emerging at around the same time as companies like Welfare State International, which Oswick points to as a major creative influence. Meanwhile, companies like Forkbeard Fantasy, established in 1974, are also ‘pushing the boundaries’ of theatre and using humour to do so. Similarly, The Natural Theatre Company is renowned for its slightly ‘absurdist’ style, and constantly takes the mickey out of all things British.
Oswick recalls that at the time the ‘Naturals’ – as they are affectionately referred to – emerged in the late 1960s, Bath was a little on the pompous side, and early performances not only mocked this high-brow culture, but were also quite politically motivated.
‘We kind of grew to make fun of it all, really,’ says Oswick. ‘To kind of shock, but also amuse. Because, we all feel passionately about the town, because it is so beautiful and it is a really groovy place,’ he says, sounding like a genuine hippie.
The company has obviously stumbled on a winning formula. Considering the number of international tours the Naturals have embarked on over the past 30 years – many with the support of the British Council – Oswick and co’ have effectively become ambassadors for the country.
Comprising of anywhere between 25 to 30 performers, several Naturals teams can be on any number of different continents at one time. The day Arts Hub spoke to Oswick, one team was in Egypt, another preparing to go to Africa. In the past year, the Naturals have travelled to Pakistan, South America, Central America, China, Russia, Australia, the Canary Islands, Belarus, Kazakhstan – you name it, they’ve been there.
The Millennium year of 2000 was one of the company’s busiest years, in which over 4500 performances by the Naturals took place. Figures indicate that outdoor theatre surged as a result of the Millennium – has this brought the Naturals more work?
Oswick points out that there is a trend, which he finds worrying, towards large-scale outdoor theatre, but emphasises despite the extent of work the Naturals takes on, it is always comprised of small-scale works. ‘We don’t build 50-foot palm trees with orchestras hanging off them,’ he quips. ‘People seem a bit mad-keen to do that…whereas I think the really British thing is observing characters and mingling and being witty and inscrutable and surreal.’
As well as its menu of over 100 tried-and-true outdoor ‘spontaneous’ street performances, including the Pink Suitcases and The Coneheads, the company has also been producing indoor theatre since 1970, which has been equally successful.
The Naturals production of Scarlatti’s Birthday Party in 1985 to mark the harpsichord composer’s all-but-forgotten tercentenary, became a favourite in Germany. The Berlin Philharmonic got involved to provide the musical accompaniment, and Scarlatti’s Birthday clocked up about 800 performances over several years and spawned three sequels: Scarlatti’s Wedding, Scarlatti’s Revenge, and the 2004 touring production, Scarlatti in Paradise.
But despite all the humour and larking about, Oswick says the company is serious about the way in which it runs – it has to be, considering the annual turnover and the constant jet-setting of the actors. But he is keen to point out an initiative which sets the Natural Theatre Company apart from similar organisations.
The company operates a Research and Development Fund, which is supported by any company profits, to nurture individual employees’ creativity. Oswick found that instead of asking performers to sit down and dream up new ideas for the Naturals, the actors were more inclined to be able to imagine creative ideas for their own personal projects. ‘It makes them think that the company appreciates them for their individual talents, not just for dressing up as a Pink Suitcase person,’ he says. For example, a small-scale comedy by a duo supported by the programme recently impressed the company and will be likely to tour next year.
‘So that kind of thing, really, is nothing startlingly new, but it’s just about getting the best out of the people that work for us.’
For further information about the Natural Theatre Company, including the 2004 tour of ‘Scarlatti in Paradise’, visit the website: www.naturaltheatre.co.uk
