From 4-7 November Glasgow will become a global focus point for those working in the performing arts as it hosts the IETM plenary meeting. IETM is a European network representing over 1000 arts practitioners from 45 different countries. The IETM plenary meeting is held biannually at locations across Europe and attracts over 600 delegates. They will be attending a packed programme of events – open to the public too – with a varied and distinguished number of guests, speakers and performers.

Central Station caught up with Steve Slater, producer of IETM Glasgow, to find out more about this exciting event.

What has been your experience of past IETM meetings?

I became a member of IETM while programming Tramway in the mid 1990s. At the time Tramway was still very much involved in maintaining Glasgow’s international profile and maintaining the legacy following the success of Glasgow’s 1990 European City of Culture celebrations. I found that being a member brought me into direct contact with many of the major ‘players’ and arts institutions in Europe. It is a fantastic way of maintaining a consistent dialogue with the wider performing arts sector, allowing for a unique perspective on performance and it’s impact on the arts closer to home.

Because the IETM plenary meetings happen twice a year, in different locations, the constant unifying elements are the people who attend, the relationships that develop over time and the opportunities which are born out of this regular framework of meetings.

What aspect of IETM Glasgow are you looking forward to the most?

I think the thing I’m looking forward to most is the prospect of showing Glasgow off in all its creative glory! The combination of 500 or so international participants, mixed with our own contingent of artists and cultural facilitators over a long weekend, packed with great performances and locations can’t be underestimated – this city is a great place to be creative…

Which guests will you be welcoming to the city?

There are so many, but I guess I’m keen to meet our keynote speakers Mike Daisey and Todd Lester, Americans who are both from New York. Mike is a well known writer and performer, who is very outspoken and confrontational. Todd is very much the academic and activist. In bringing the two of them together for IETM Glasgow, I’m hoping we can really get the participants thinking in new ways about what our sector is engaged with on a broader level; what we can affect as artists and practitioners beyond the artwork itself in social and political terms.

Tell us about the theme of ‘voices’ – how will this be explored?

‘Voices’ is a vehicle for any number of themes and subjects to be dissected during the meeting. It allows us to enter difficult territory on race, integration, activism and equality. As a professional body, the membership of IETM need to keep talking to each other, to find common ground and understanding, especially when faced with difficult times such as these, when funding is being stripped back to the bare minimum.

IETM is an international event, how does it build/draw on Glasgow’s own history of performance?

Bringing IETM to Glasgow has involved a great deal of work and commitment over the past couple of years. Initiated originally by the Scottish Arts Council and continued now as a Creative Scotland project, IETM Glasgow has been able to mark the city’s 20th anniversary of the European City of Culture status. In hosting the meeting and it’s associated programme of performances, tours and events it marks a moment in time, allowing us to witness the living legacy of 1990 and hopefully add something to the ongoing development and enrichment of the arts in Glasgow and Scotland for the future. If I were asked to sum up IETM Glasgow, I’d have to say it was a ‘truly good thing’ in these times of uncertainty. I’d urge everyone involved to make the most of the opportunity to meet, talk, plan and create the future they strive for.

Make friends with IETM Glasgow, join the group and check out the IETM blogs by performance critic Gareth Vile.

Full programme details can be found here.

it’s not the panicky environment that i was expecting in the office. mainly the tying up of loose ends and looking forward to the event. but then again, our Brussels colleagues will arrive next week and i can’t help think that they will bring with them a whirlwind of last minute activity, and a little bit of chaos. the good kind, of course!

our interns have been fantastic, and continue to support us in the 11th hour, running around shops, contacting companies, making sure all the fine detail is covered.

the companies themselves are in their final preparations, readying themselves for the international audience that awaits them next week.

the venues, especially the CCA, are sprucing themselves up and preparing for the influx of creative professionals from the four corners of the globe to turn up and inspect what Glasgow has to offer.

we are apprehensive, excited, nervous and also proud, as we wait to see what our international guests have to say about VOICES, the ietm autumn plenary, our programme, our city and our voice.

Hairdressers’ Space – Creative Crossover

Q: What do you get when you cross an established writers’ group, one emergent visual artist, two live bands and a token piano?

A: A creative dynamic unlike anything Glasgow has ever encountered and, in our increasingly inter-disciplinary era, may prove a pioneering prototype for Plenary’s of the future.

Take said ingredients and house them in an atmospheric, appealingly antiquated space in a key central location. Add a few dollops of international delegates. Pour in some plucky and inquistive general public. Then leave to simmer, letting the creative juices flow.

The Hairdressers’ Space opposite Stereo has proved itself, in its various recent incarnations, as something of a hotbed for current cultural inclination. Anyone remember that stomach-swilling site specific installation – THE ORZEL? This gutsy, makeshift masterpiece recreated the claustrophobia of a submariner’s experience. It drew colossal crowds during its shortlived stint in Autumn of last year.

Later, GI‘s notoriously well attended social epicentre Le Drapeau Noir  sprung up on site as a beautifully bolshy bastion of bohemian nightlife. With a knowing nod to the Berlin scene, artists, writers, performers and partiers adorned the entrance throughout, belching out from its teeming interior. The constant ebb and flow of general public and GI affiliates ensured that requests for a more permanent exhibition-site-come-social-venue (and all round alternate reality) piled in from all corners.

Post inundation of pleading enquiries Stereo invested in the space, shrewdly selecting certain events to fill its drafty but undeniably endearing walls.

Almost incidentally, a modest but curiously momentous mini-Glasgow institution was forged. And its reputation is ever-mounting. The day is nigh when reference to the venue will no longer be suffixed, in parenthesis, by the information (opposite Stereo). It continues to craft its distinct identity as a cubbyhole for culture with unforseen kudos. Crucially, it retains an ‘almost- undergroundness’ which characterises the best of the city’s galleries and arts sites such as SWG3.

IETM now occupies this kooky kernel of Glasgow’s creative space for four days throughout Voices- the Autumn performing arts Plenary taking place across Glasgow from 4-7 November.

Plywood, a three piece band will set the scene upstairs within. IETM’s delegates, kept well-oiled by the licensed bar below, may mingle at leisure round candle lit tables on the mezzanine. Playing from 11pm on Thursday 4 Nov Plywood have the luxury of a bright eyed and bushy-tailed crowd, raring for the programme of performance, productions and parties. By Sunday 7, these same sociable arts professionals, we can safely surmise, may not be feeling quite so fresh nor so chipper.

Seeds of Thought then saunter in to plant some smooth vocals in the varied vegetable patch that is The Hairdressers Site. Playing from 11pm on Friday 5 November these guys have the onerous, but not unenjoyable, task of revving up the crowd, rendez-voused at this Late Night Meeting Point. Playing into the wee small hours they expertly combine spoken word with performative elements and music.

Fence writers’ group will be resident in the space throughout, holding a series of workshops, events and meetings for IETM attendees. Readings will be held, at intervals, during each day. The setting alone will propel pens towards paper in all its strange, chilling, (if somewhat chilly -heaters provided!) faded grandeur.

And what, you may query, could pose as a fitting backdrop to this veritable glut of clever creative interplay? Just when you thought you couldn’t manage another morsel IETM, collaboratively with Central Station have  curated the work of a visual artist to add to the array. Calling upon the talents of deft draughtsman and sound social commentator, artist Leigh Chorlton. The winner of the Emerging Artist Competition will exhibit throughout the Plenary with an opening on November 3 from 7pm – 10pm.  Chorlton will showcase a selection of his renaissance style renderings which parody retro culture. Exposing the rift in classical verses contemporary art he explores the theme of voices by calling figures from the past into an eclectic present context – an exhibition site which combines music, writing and performance; The Haridressers’ Space, Renfield Lane (opposite Stereo)

As Jeremy Raison’s last direction for The Citizens – he recently departed after seven years – Clockwork Orange battles with the story’s established history and modern relevance. Dressing up the “droogs” as contemporary hipsters, it escapes the iconic white suited bovver boys of the film, and its versatile set evokes modern housing estates and drab prison chapels. Yet it can never escape Burgess’ lapsed Catholicism: the priest becomes the voice of conscience, attempting to find a morality in the face of state expediency.

This production gains its energy from Jay Taylor’s remarkable portrayal of Alex. Violent thug, sensitive fan of Beethoven, moralist and victim of government manipulation: he weaves through the heavy script with a Machiavellian delight, spouting an almost Shakespearian eloquence. From his initial acts of narcotic fuelled violence to his final conclusion that it was all part of his maturing process, Alex is an amoral psychopath, charming and deadly.

This Clockwork Orange is unashamed of being an “issue based” play. Characters pontificate on good and evil, free will and fate – even if fate has become more a matter of the state’s intervention. It is wordy, despite a few interludes of “physical theatre”, and very much within the British tradition of theatre founded on the script. Burgess’ intelligence is hardly occluded by the references to contemporary horrors, and the production finds new ways of showing the iconic scenes of Alex’s horror-show antics and brutal cure.

The Citizens, under Giles Havergal, built a reputation for populist theatre, unafraid of contemporary adaptation. While Raison’s tenure was not uncontroversial, this farewell summons many of the qualities that the Southside theatre made its hallmarks.

When Wee Home first appeared, it brought together three artists who could rightly be regarded as national treasures. Apart from McConnell, director Gerry Mulgrew has a reputation as one of Scotland’s most forward thinking performers. Through his own company Communicado, he continues to develop an imaginative and politically astute theatre, most recently in his version of The Government Inspector. Making up the trinity, is singer songwriter Michael Marra, who has justly been called a Scottish Tom Waits.

While both subject matter and creators are undeniably Scottish, McConnell says that he likes “to think of the piece as equally part of a European dance theatre tradition.” Certainly, he mentions influences from across the continent, alongside Scottish names. “Maybe I  didn’t realise it at the time but Royston Maldoom has always been an influential figure. And in the past year I was devastated by the death of Pina Bausch,” he admits. This acknowledge of both European and local inspiration is, however, distinctive of the Scottish artists of the past twenty years. Amongst other opportunities, the year as City of Culture in 1990, and the programming of Tramway, has encouraged Caledonian performers to look to the east.

Wee Home tells the story, through song and dance, of a man returning to Glasgow after a period away, and reflects on the myths and shared stories that make up the city. Gerry Mulgrew remembers that these stories connected him and McConnell more than he had expected. “When we first devised the piece together in the eighties, Frank and I realised we had both been brought up in Partick within yards of each other and it was the memory of those city streets, of the bustle of Dumbarton Road, which formed the genesis of  the story.” Perhaps this joint history makes Wee Home so deft in its analysis of Glasgow, although the arrival of Marra seemed to be a slight distraction.

“Mick being a Dundonian,” Mulgrew laughs.  “We had to teach him certain Glasgow moves to make him an honorary Weegie: but the boy learns fast!” Indeed, so fast did Marra pick them up, his song Mother Glasgow has become something of an alternative anthem for the city. Yet despite its West Coast flavor, Mulgrew insists that the work is not parochial.

“In essence it is a universal, timeless piece about returning to the place of your childhood, a subject for art which crosses all boundaries.” As for the gap between the original production and its revival, Mulgrew is unconcerned. “Twenty-one years  is a quite miniscule period of time in terms of human history.”  More specifically, in the year of Homecoming, it is perhaps a necessary antidote to some of the more gruesome heritage aspects of Scotland The Brand.”

Mulgrew’s attitude is, in itself, expressive of that great Glaswegian virtue: gallusness, or an almost reckless swagger that translates into a fearless self-confidence. While Wee Home may have more than a few distinctive Glaswegian episodes -  the memories of school and the particular religious upbringing are uniquely West Coast – it resonates with a universal energy that is recognisable to any traveller returning back to an unwelcoming homecoming.

While there is a far closer affinity between the cabaret acts, the scene itself is sub-divided. The variety strand is represented by Art Club Cabaret, Spangled at The Rio and the afternoon shows at the Panopticon: burlesque may appear at these nights, but it has its own distinct audience and events. Within variety itself, there is a clear split between the vaudeville flavours of the Panopticon, the supper club song and dance of Art Club or the Supper Club at the Tron and the more punk rock stylings of Spangled and the political cabaret hosted by Glasgow legend Tam Dean Burn.

Burlesque often takes the lion’s share of the coverage, mainly because it is both a tightly knit community and has enough internal contradictions for several PhD theses. Nearly every performer will comment that burlesque is primarily about parody, yet striptease dominates the routines: a recent innovation has been go-go dancing, which poses fascinating questions about the feminist defences of the scene.  Briefly, the burlesque scene began as a community, with a clear emphasis on reclaiming glamour and celebrating body image. This strong community foundation enabled its revival, but now that it has become financial viable, the political debates that it generated are begging answers.

Cabaret itself is really a format rather than a style: Spangled is half way between a music gig, starring Scunner and The Glasgow Glam Bangers, and an open night of poetry and outré performance. Within this, there are acts that consciously recall vaudeville, and others that have a direct connection to musical theatre. Despite an enthusiasm for the past – the Panopticon is dominated by revival acts – cabaret is elegantly post-modern, fusing contemporary aesthetics with classic skills.

Key Performers

The Creative Martyrs . The break-out act of Edinburgh Free Fringe 2010, The Martyrs made the leap from solid cabaret turn to full on art explosion with an hour long show that took in mime, story-telling, singing and dark humour. Equal parts Weimar, East European and British vaudeville, they have a rare political edge that is incisive and profound.

Rhymes With Purple. Also known as a theatre company, RWP are an axis of variety charm. Rufus and The Not So Impressive Ben are a rare compere double act; Lucille Burn teams with rock pianist Gorman for reinvention of the chanteuse. They are also energetic promoters, supporting high quality production values and a genuine variety aesthetic.

Dolly Tartan. Leader of her Tartan Army, Dolly punts a pair of nights: La Cheetah and The Red Door. The latter is a benefit for the Panopticon, and a key event for the burlesque community. La Cheetah is a mixture of new and established burlesque acts: she also invented the Burlesque X Factor, bringing a  competitive drama to the supportive scene.

Charlie Montgomery. Best known for his duets with Leggy Pee, this three foot dynamo charms adults and children alike: he is also one of cabaret’s most well-read critics. His long career on the cruise ships gives him an aura of old school professionalism, despite his louche onstage antics and sharp online quips.

The shift from Theatre Studies and Drama towards a more diverse and inclusive curricula that takes the idea of “performance” and radically expands it is more than just an academic matter. My own decision to change the name of The Skinny’s Theatre Section to performance was a reflection of the activity across Scotland, that increasingly sees skills more usually associated with vaudeville, circus or variety become part of the theatre world.

There are, broadly, three strands  within Glasgow, although these rapidly sub-divide and mutate. There is a limited cross-over and collaboration: Leggy Pee, darling of the cabaret circuit, has been known to work with Mischief La Bas, while Diane Torr has booked burlesque alongside Live Art in her famous occasional events. Yet these are not the rule, and while the scenes do not compete, they follow very separate paths.

The following three posts look at these strands, making vague connections and guessing at continuities, mentioning names and missing others. 

The Glasgow Live Art Young Team

New Writing Crew

Life’s A Cabaret

The Contemporary Performance Practice degree at the RSAMD has provided cohorts of students and graduates willing to pursue deeply personal and radically experimental actions. This groundswell then attracts other performers from across the world, as well as graduates from Glasgow University’s well respected drama department.  It’s fair to say that Jackie Wylie at The Arches has given considerable support to the scene: September’s Arches Live is a fortnight of young artists grappling with the meaning of performance.

Due to the nature of the work, the subjects and approaches are startling diverse, and it is difficult to categorise. However, certain key themes emerge. The spoken monologue is often subjected to scrutiny, and stretched over animation, video footage, choreography and puppetry. The tight social dance of Goat Island is an influence, Forced Entertainment’s deadpan nihilism lurks menacingly. Intimate details are revealed, the barrier between private and public challenged. The RSAMD graduates are particularly influenced by feminism, and the programming of Tramway, especially in its concentration on European dance and theatre, is an important inspiration.

Certain artists have come from this scene to greater attention, working with the National Theatre of Scotland in their Allotment series or social outreach, or embarking on national tours. Nic Green’s Trilogyis a fine example: equally, Glas(s) Performance– who also lead the youth theatre based in Tramway, Junction 25 – have gained a reputation for working effectively within communities and with people who are not usually expected to be found on stage.

Key Performers

David Overend. This University of Glasgow post-graduate embarked on a project to examine how the Arches’ multi-platform uses impacts on theatre, and deconstructs both the venue and the performance. His Post-Show, with Rob Drummond, took apart the mechanics of the after-show chat and the myths of director and writer. 

Gary McNair. King of the personal is political monologue, McNair has covered nuclear destruction, the credit crunch and, officiating at recent Sunday Sermons, the place of religion in a non-religious community.

Glas(s) Performance. Also teaching at the RSAMD, Glas(s) are best known for their ability to discover the latent talents and stories of people outside of the drama community. An emphasis on revealing hidden and personal narratives is combined with a sophisticated stage-craft and inclusive creative process.

Nic Green. Increasingly the icon of the scene, Nic’s enthusiasm for feminism, ecological thought and relentless self-questioning has come to national attention, and her pieces are capable of gently holding an audience without compromising her hard messages.

Fish and Game. A sort of New Work super-group, starring Eilidh MacAskill – Glasgow’s ukulele queen and RSAMD lecturer Robert Walton. Their Otter Pie was a brilliant examination of Scottish identity. Work in progress includes an angular look at Abraham Lincoln.

In some cases, their process is heavily influenced by academic approaches to theatre: Flatrate’s Rob Jones is a recent university graduate, and the formal experiments of Forced Entertainment are, again, a touch-stone. They can be found in The Arches or upstairs in The Tron, or even in the smaller spaces of The Citizens. Taking their queue from the companies of the 1990s like Cryptic, they are willing to explore new outlets for performance: Flatrate run a monthly open night.

This grouping lacks any formal affiliations, and the subject matter ranges from angular anecdotes through to child abuse: if there is any connection in the subjects, it is that they are often more unsavoury than standard theatre fare. What they do share is a retention of the script as a core, even if the idea of the writer, alone in a garret, pursuing a singular vision, has been replaced by a more collaborative vision.

Their contribution to the theatre calendar is a series of small scale productions, the occasional revival of a contemporary classic and a steady stream of new writing. It is unlikely that the names listed below would recognise any great affinity with one another.

Key Performers

Alan McKendrick. Most recently spotted in The Arches basement, sporting a natty hat and presenting a filmed monologue that exposed the latent violence behind rock music messianic environmental and synchronised swimming, McKendrick’s scripts are cerebral and knowing. Ready to mix it up with visual artists, he maintains an almost old-fashioned respect for the script, while winking at modern techniques and post-modern irony.

Flatrate. Their first plays literally happened in a flat, and so the name. Now presenting at The Tron, Flatrate’s Rob Jones suggests that he wants to merge musical and theatrical aesthetics in a new way, even envisioning the company as more of a record label than a traditional band of actors. Not shy of the odd neo-brutalism revival, they’ve moved on to original works, penned by Stephen Redman, and take their influence from internet porn and wandering conversations with confused critics.

Leann O’Kasi. Formerly director in residence at The Citizens, and now at The Tron, O’Kasi is a writer, actor and director who impressed with a revival of American card-sharp two hander Top Dog/UnderDog before writing and starring in the recent Dirty Paradise. A straight talking East Londoner, O’Kasi is at home with the explicitly political and the idiosyncratically personal.

Rhymes With Purple. Drumhead was the toughest of Mayfesto’s political pieces: an hour of torture and justification, it dropped plot for an intense presentation of hardcore interrogation. Unfortunately, they lost the video footage of the critic being waterboarded, disappointing most of the performance community. Nevertheless, RWP are as comfortable with comedy as vicious indictment of US double-speak, and have built up a following thanks to bi-annual runs at Edinburgh Fringe.

Drew Taylor. Another writer and perfomer, Taylor has roots in slam poetry, and is often seen ranting in rhyme. His alter-ego Markus Makevellian had a glittery season at this year’s Fringe: his involvement in Glasgay! has ranged from directing Tennessee Williams through to one man shows.

Martin O’Connor. Once upon a time, O’Connor turned out perfectly formed monologues, starting with masculine anxieties but branching out into the corrosive effects of celebrity culture and social alienation. Recently, he has expanded into multi-character examinations of Glasgow life, never loosing that ear for West Coast patter.