Guest Blog: Graeae’s Amit Sharma on Prometheus Awakes

Here
Amit tells us about the outdoor spectacular, which is taking place on 22 June
outside the National Maritime Museum as part of the
Greenwich+Docklands International Festival and on 2 August on
Stockton High Street as part of the Stockton International Riverside
Festival.

Mass
choreography…a 24ft puppet walking in front of Queen’s House…people
swinging 30ft in the air above the audience’s heads…

What
is the lowdown on Graeae’s new large-scale outdoor production, the
first in this country to be artistically led and performed by
disabled artists? Well, I’ve given most of it away but one thing I
can guarantee is that it’s going to be an experience not to be
missed, and it’s a free event.

Things
were very different 12 years ago when I was at university studying to
be a director in TV, dreaming of wearing a baseball cap and telling
people what to do. That was until I heard about Graeae’s Missing
Piece.
The course was designed to cater to deaf and disabled actors who
weren’t able to get into drama schools – access and attitudes
were creating a ‘lost generation’ of artists.

‘I
had to apply’, I thought, and before I knew it I was doing all the
things non-disabled performing art students do with voice, movement,
Shakespeare etc in what turned out to be a hugely significant stage
in my professional career.

After
completing Missing
Piece
I was working here, there and everywhere until – fast forward to
last summer – I was offered the position of associate director at
Graeae while our artistic director, the one and only Ms Jenny Sealey (the single biggest influence on my career),
was off to co-direct the London 2012 Paralympic Games Opening
Ceremony.

Not
long after I started as associate director, Bradley Hemmings,
artistic director of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (and
co-artistic director of the London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony
with Jenny), asked us if we would be interested in presenting a
reinterpretation of the Prometheus myth with La Fura Dels Baus.

I
hadn’t heard of La Fura before but quickly got to know their
amazing large-scale outdoor work through the internet. Our first
meeting took place in Barcelona with Pera Tantiñá from La Fura, who
is a bear of a man with the heart of a puppy. He has incredible
enthusiasm which is so hard not to be affected by. We quickly
understood that both companies had their specific areas of expertise
and that the common thread was that we both create and tell stories
in inventive ways. I was also really conscious throughout the
conversations then and since that Graeae is building on the brilliant
outdoor theatre work created by Jenny over the last few years.

What
we are hoping is that the show will be a real spectacle which will of
course have a high standard of access incorporated in and around the
production. Our ‘aesthetic of access’ is in our DNA. We believe access
doesn’t have to be staid or functional. It can be fun, atmospheric,
artistic and clever so that the same audience can get information at
different times. At our heart is the idea that anyone can turn up to our shows
and not have to worry about whether it’s a signed performance or an
audio-described performance or whether they have any other access requirements.

All we ask our audience to do is turn up and enjoy. Better yet we
want you to leave thinking: amazing theatre, amazing theatre, amazing
theatre.