Guest Blog: David Shopland - "When all is said and done, it is the artistic output that has to count."

David Shopland

In the late summer of 2011, I sat around a table at Henry’s Bar in Covent Garden with three close friends and discussed the possibility of taking those first brave steps towards starting a theatre company. Two years later that company is producing Riverside Studios’ Christmas show, The Little Mermaid.

This original adaptation searches for the truth behind the fairytale paralleling the life of Hans Christian Andersen and focusing on issues of sexual identity and belonging. We had all trained at Rose Bruford College together and despite coming from different backgrounds and possessing diverse theatrical interests, we had gravitated towards each other during our final year.

I think Drama School instills you with a certain fire in your belly, and as a performer it gives you the chance to play characters like Willy Loman and Blanche Dubois; parts you would never be considered for professionally until much later in your career. You also get the opportunity to create your own work experiment with different theatrical techniques. This means a Drama School student can graduate with an idealised impression of how the industry will treat them when they graduate. There is nothing wrong with this. Rose Bruford was a fantastic training facility, and the American Theatre Arts degree was particularly focused towards creating militant theatre-makers. However, you are forced to learn swiftly that the realities of theatre are far more complicated than the rose tinted image you have in training. That’s when you have to make a choice. In my mind there are two options for any graduating practitioner; either you strive to become part of this country’s historic theatrical landscape or you strive to change it.

So back at Henry’s, the four of us were discussing our despondency towards the current state of commercial theatre and the ever increasing importance of the London Fringe when it became clear we all wanted to achieve the same goal: to be accountable for our own creativity. At this point, Blind Tiger was born. Except we didn’t have a name. Over the course of eight hours we discussed every aspect of our shared artistic vision for the company, but every time we kept coming back to a name, we drew a blank.

The thing about wanting to form your own company is that the name can suddenly seem the most significant decision you will ever make. ‘Blind Tiger’ eventually emerged due to the thematic location of our first production, A Life in Monochrome. As homage to the Chandler and Hammett pulp fiction of the 1930’s, our new production took place largely in a stereotypical Noir Chicago speakeasy – or ‘Blind Tiger’. Through our research into the context of the play, we had stumbled upon this code-word for the prohibited bars of that era that seemed to sum up the exact atmosphere we wanted to achieve with our work; playful and mischievous – but also slightly dangerous!

With our current show, The Little Mermaid (playing at Riverside Studios from 10th December – 12th January), we have built upon the success of our two previous shows …Monochrome and Cinderella: The Anti Panto by beginning to solidify the ‘Blind Tiger voice’.

Every new company in this industry sets out with grand ideas about changing the face of theatre, but it can take a while before one completely understands its own style. The Little Mermaid is truly reflective of what has become the ‘Blind Tiger’ style.

We make theatre that attempts to create an atmosphere, blending music and dialogue in a cinematic way whilst reclaiming iconic genres of drama. Above all, it is this idea of having one foot in the past as another forges ahead into the future that truly informs our work. The question is, how could one ever sum up all of these aspects to the work we create in two words…? When all is said and done, it is the artistic output that has to count, and the work that informs the name – no matter how sweet it may smell.

David Shopland
contact@westendframe.com

David is the Creative Director of Blind Tiger Theatre. He has directed The Little Mermaid as well as Blind Tiger's previous shows. He also co-writes the shows with Callum Hughes. Blind Tiger Theatre; was established by Rose Bruford graduates in 2011. The Little Mermaid is their most ambitious venture yet, in which actors underscore the show, and switch between the sea world inhabited by the Mermaid and the Danish world of its creator, Hans Christian Andersen

The Little Mermaid opens at Riverside Studios on 11th December 2013 (previews from 10th December) and runs until 12th January 2014.

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