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Expect the unexpected
By Keith Watson, Metro 11.09.07
Magical mystery tour: Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle, the brains behind Punchdrunk
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My school wouldn't let me do GCSE Art,' declares Felix Barrett, the visionary co-creator of Punchdrunk Theatre Company. 'They said I'd fail it as I couldn't draw. Now I'm getting my own back.'
If any of those teachers could see what magical images Barrett is drawing in his mind now they'd be eating their words.
Last year his dreamlike, impressionistic take on the Faust legend incorporated an endless Hopper-inspired set over five floors of an old sugar factory and audience members pelting down pitch-black corridors after the characters.
But though these site-specific creations, which weave characters, stories and audiences together in captivating adventures, may owe their look to Barrett, that's not to underplay the role of Punchdrunk's other half, choreographer Maxine Doyle. His theatrical flourishes found an ideal foil in her brand of punchily direct dance, which fills every corner with movement tailormade to draw the most out of the characters and locations.
'Before I met Maxine my whole experience of contemporary dance was that it was totally inaccessible - but that's the opposite of what Punchdrunk is about,' says Barrett.
'What's important is the feeling that the audience have created the show for themselves, it has to make that personal connection. The more you put in, the more you get out of it.'
The Punchdrunk experience has certainly hit home with audiences. Re-workings of Macbeth (Sleep No More) and Romeo And Juliet (The Firebird Ball) sold out on the strength of word of mouth. Faust was scheduled for a six-week run that stretched to six months. Much of the appeal is down to the adrenaline rush of chasing characters up and down mysterious, candle-lit corridors, fragments of stories dancing in and out of the dark. That, and the fact there's a bar with live band to open and close proceedings.
Now Punchdrunk are getting to grips with the Gothic imaginings of mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe, whose story The Masque Of The Red Death provides the launch pad for the transformation of the labyrinthine Battersea Arts Centre into an extraordinary warren of velvety interiors and glamorous decadence. The extreme makeover drips with chandeliers and cupids, forests and antique finery. Characters from a selection of Poe's stories conduct their mission to beguile to an eerily spine-chilling soundtrack.
'The idea is that you hold on to a character and follow them through the action, though you can cross over at any point,' says Doyle. 'What we've gone for much more this time is creating an ambience, to try to take you inside Poe's imagination. It's less about plot, more about getting lost in a physical landscape.'
And that's lost as in physically not having a clue where you are, as well as mentally mesmerised. Such is the scale of Punchdrunk shows, which last up to three hours - the action runs on repeating loops, which means you can land on a story at any point in its arc - is that it's not unusual to find yourself one-on-one with a dancer who is performing with just you for company. 'Dancers can get stranded with no one looking at them, but they have to carry on,' says Doyle. Someone might just catch the last few seconds of what they are doing, but that's part of the intention.'
In the light of such intimacy, the line between performer and audience can become blurred. Having danced with my hand on the fast-beating heart of a sexy bad witch in the height of the action in Faust it's no surprise when Doyle reveals that on occasion performers have been stalked by enraptured punters.
'You invite the audience to fall in love with the characters, to feel like they can touch them. But we have to be constantly on the alert for that, it's all tightly regulated. And props have disappeared. In Firebird Ball someone was walking out in a green ballgown - and she wasn't one of the performers! People just get so wrapped up in what's going on.'
It's been a rapid rise for Punchdrunk - Barrett and Doyle only joined forces four years ago - but Barrett is keenly aware of the pitfalls of falling back on a winning formula. 'Because of the success of Faust the expectations have been raised, so it's a mixed blessing. We don't want people to go: "Oh the old masks again!" So in Red Death we're pushing it absolutely as far as we can go.
'Next we've got plans afoot to do an opera with a live orchestra, which will be something totally different - Punchdrunk is about delivering the unexpected.'
The Masque Of The Red Death, previews from Mon, opens Oct 2, until Jan 12, BAC, 176 Lavender Hill SW11, various times, £20 to £40 (limited availability). Tel: 020 7223 2223. www.bac.org.uk Rail: Clapham Junction
