Vanishing Point is a Scottish company who have stormed into London with a truly mesmerising new production called ‘Interiors’.
Imagine being witness to a dinner party where the participants are walled inside a clear plastic ‘case’ on all sides. You hear none of the spoken words as such, just their exchanges and the narrative told through innovative and visually inventive ways. Suddenly you are allowed as The Audience to hear and see what’s inside their heads as drama unfolds.
This production is the latest in a line of hits from this company who have since their inception in 1999 travelled the world with their unusual take on both the classics and bang up to date pieces.
I caught up with Matthew Lenton, the company’s artistic director who allowed us a glimpse into this truly amazing ‘theatrical’ world his shows reveal.
Champagne Charlie
How did the idea of enclosing the cast in a glass box come?
Matthew Lenton
Many places. Maurice Meaterlink’s play Interior talks about a family (at the back of the stage) sitting in a room as two men watch and talk about them from the outside. But in that play most of the drama is outside the room. I was interested in the events going on inside the room. I have always found little boxes of light intriguing, beguiling and hypotonic, whether they are people’s rooms in a city, houses glowing in the dark in the middle of the wilderness, or ships sailing on the sea. I like the idea that inside all of these illuminated boxes are people going about their lives, full of hope, fear, curiosity and love. It’s what our lives are like – moments of light in an otherwise immense dark void. I also get bored with going to the theatre and seeing the same form repeated over and over and over again. Unless theatre makers are more daring about form they might as well shoot themselves in the head. And being experimental with form doesn’t mean being inaccessible or exclusive. Audiences can be beguiled and charmed by new ways of seeing things.
Champagne Charlie
What effect does it produce for The Audience?
Matthew Lenton
I can’t say – you’d have to ask The Audience. But the show works differently in different venues. In a smaller space, like the Lyric Studio in London, The Audience is very close and each person can be looking at different thing at any time. In larger venues, there is more of a panoramic view. I find watching the show hypnotic and engrossing – much more so than if the glass wall wasn’t there. I find it draws you in and invites you to look at detail in a way that normally you wouldn’t or couldn’t.
Champagne Charlie
You say that a lot of plays could just be staged TV shows - what sort of other techniques have you used in this and other shows to covey a unique theatrical experience?
Matthew Lenton
Well, our very first show took place in total darkness. You really couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, no matter how hard you tried. The Audience were led in, in the darkness and seated as and the story unfolded around them. This was ten years ago now and there’s been lots of work in total darkness since then and a revolution in so-called ‘immersive’ theatre, led by companies like Punchdrunk. But I think all good theatre is immersive, like entering a world – whether you’re walking round a disused building or sitting in a dark theatre. I believe that what happens in a theatre should ONLY be able to happen in a theatre.
Champagne Charlie
They say the theatre we get suits the times we are in - why do you think this work is relevant now?
