This May, Riverside Studios bows to the power of Howard Baker's reality crushing theatre.
Howard Barker's plays have been produced time and time again in Europe with loving care in six languages. In the UK however, he's often thought of as a foot-stamping dramatist, who regards clarity in a scene in the same way that most of us would regard someone spitting in the street. It's just not necessary. His take on soul searching and exploring right and wrong in theatre was neatly summed up by the man himself when he said “I certainly don't have a moral attitude I'm aware of...I don't think morally, and I don't think dramatists ought to think morally”
This spring, Riverside Studios proudly doffs its cap to a writer whose most remarkable feats are his poetic, morally vacuous characters. Two of his most poetic plays – Hurts Given and Received and Slowly – will run from 29th May until 9th May, and both display his self-termed 'theatre of catastrophe' in all its frustrating glory.
Hurts Given and Received follows a poet who, on his way to creating his masterpiece, makes no bones about sacrificing his friends and family. It's with this piece that you'll get to sample one of Barker's captivating protagonists, who often make up their own values and theological bases which defer any final judgement with the audience. Expect an exploration of human motivation, moments of disillusion but nothing didactic, and, if you come across a loose end, play with it all you want; it won't get tied up. Of the theatre as a medium for delivering a message, Barker remarked “frankly I find that tedious”.
In Slowly, four princesses await the arrival of a barbarian army. No doubts lie over their brutal fate but as the soldiers near, the individuals in the castle contemplate whether they should kill themselves to preserve their honour as society expects, or live all that life has to offer however little that may be. With Slowly, social upheaval meets individuality and culture is up for debate. Is there dignity in suicide? Does a struggle to survive demean us?
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