London Calling with Champaign Charlie

With the inevitable question ‘what to do or see over the holidays' in mind I followed up director Paul Heritage as he gets ready to stage AMAZONIA. This show is his bringing together of Brazilian and British theatre artists and creating a spectacular Amazonian adventure at London's prestigious Young Vic.

The theatre is quite unique being the starting off points for actors like Jude Law with their startling work on classics like Tis Pity She's A Whore and his tireless work fundraising for the theatre's extension; it's work has been nothing less than challenging AND commercially successful in a way that puts many other institutions to shame. 

For the holiday season they not only wanted a hit with contemporary relevance but a work to make a real impression. ‘For me' said Heritage ‘it all came with combining the drama of a real life big personality, politics, ecology and what makes a difference now'

AMAZONIA ticks all those boxes according to Heritage. Chico Mendes is the real life big personality who as assassinated in 1988 for his tireless environmental campaigning and the disappearing rainforests is the ecological basis for the work. 

‘I basically took a step by step approach to realising the work and the challenge of wanting to bring all these things together' He told me in a break from rehearsals.

‘First was actually going to the Amazon with artistic director David lan. We went over there in April 2006 to listen to the ‘voices' of the Amazon' In other words take into account all the possible theatrical ideas that were available to realistically meet their ambitious aims. 'We had to ask ourselves uncomfortable questions like 'what if the people there actually DO want development, to improve their lives and modernize living conditions and improve quality of their lives' He added

‘Thing won't stay frozen forever. What if people may actually want to reap the benefits of a more commercialised Amazon as it will help them get out of their current ‘backward' world and into the 21^st century? The environmentalists never answer that one' he insisted. 

‘The second thing was to find a setting and that was the town of Acre' he went on. ‘This is in the heart of the Amazon and we really wanted to define what culture IS for everyone there with no preconceptions. It was there also that Chico Mendes was assassinated by the local rubber farmers.'

2008 is the 20^th anniversary of the death of this life long environmentalist who was tragically killed trying to convince local rubber ferments to change their ways of production and in many cases stopping.

‘I want to audience to see him as the sort of Nelson Mandela of the Amazon he really was' Paul went onto explain.

The third and final strand once we had this was a counter point to the story.

‘It came in the form of a unique dance there called the Quadrilha'. It's a popular dance in Brazil and unique to the Area. Every year the villagers spend 8 moths of it preparing for a life or death style ‘strictly come dancing' - type contest.

The marks are up to 10 and no one gets less than a 9 so that decimal point mark is vital. I was one of the markers and witnessed them going to a hospital tent after each round to recover it is so exhausting' he fondly remembered.

‘The dance came to the forest via England and the French who brought it to the area when Napoleon was busy trying to conquer the whole region. 

The next stage was going onto make a partnership with a dance group there to inform the performers here in the UK. A script was then put together that mixed his life and the dance as part of the story of the dilemma we find ourselves in that area.

‘Finally after much effort during workshops we emerged with a story of a wedding that goes very wrong for all concerned when that dance goes wrong' he happily concluded.

The whole package was now ready for a ‘staging in the streets' with the theatre organising live exhibition and dance around the roads surrounding the Young Vic.

The result was a hugely successful experience that engaged audience and, critics and public alike. The anticipation and audience buzz is high for the show and looks to be a real stand out show this holiday to come. 

On a more calmer but no less intriguing note, Adrian Dunbar called me earlier today with news of the London opening of the stage adaptation of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring'

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a Vermeer masterwork hanging in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Tracey Chevalier turned out a bestselling 1999 historical novel that imagines the circumstances and inspiration behind the painting.

This in turn produced 2003 hit film with Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson.

‘Three months ago I got the script and we spent much of the rehearsal period building into it more of the drama about the other characters. After all there were no close ups the audience could look to and stare at. It all had to be done with words and actions for the stage' Adrian told me

‘We then had to open out this exterior world the girl lives in and with Sheila Stevenson on board she helped write more into that original script.'

As they were more immersed in their part, things began to take shape and the play finally was ready for a series of dry runs before its West End opening.

‘Tracy Chevalier was around to pass comments and we've just started the run. Critics were mixed ‘but that's the way things go. Meantime I am getting ready to go back to New York.'

One of his pet projects has suddenly been green lit with the Origin Theatre Company and come fall of 2009 ‘Brendan at the Chelsea' will open. ‘It tells the story of that critical time in the revolutionary / critic's and Irish radical Brendan Behan's life when he left Ireland for the Chelsea Hotel in New York'

As he fought with the British government and the effects of his alcoholism the Irish radical absorbed all of Americana from the safety of a room at the Chelsea Hotel.

Written by Behan's niece Janet it describes life there with ‘Arthur Millar across the hall and Ornette Coleman in the penthouse', he added.

‘I can relate a lot to him' the actor went onto tell me. ‘That's what the play has done so well around the UK And it being taken up in the US' Like Behan he too was affected by alcohol but nothing near to the extent of his character but bad enough to affect personal and public life and know from that ‘how far I should go'. 

New Yorkers can look forward to this and more film work he is waiting on once he has wrapped things up on this show.