THEN

With a commitment to collaboration and story telling fueled by her early theatre experiences at ATYP, Yve Blake has created a performance based on over 1000 stories and comments collected on her website WhoWereWe.com. Some are funny, some weird, some very touching and Blake has woven them into a performance of characters that stretches across the generations.

On a stage empty but for her laptop, a few costumes and a screen, Blake uses a combination of styles and media to look quizzically at memories of childhood fears, adolescent relationships, special places, wishes, dreams and eventual realisations suggested by the many responses she received. With her expressive face and many voices she creates a variety of characters and uses songs and zany dance routines to synchronise comments that are linked. Lithe, light on her feet and using her laptop ‘collaborator’ to change tempo and mood, she sustains the pace and continuity necessary for a performance that pulls so many stories together – and tweaks so many emotions.

Blake pays tribute not only to those who shared their memories, but to the creative designers who, in the true spirit of collaboration, shared her original commitment to the project: Alex Groves and Phil Jameson (music), Georgia Symons (dramatug), Naomi Kuyck-Cohen and Alice Cousins (design), Rosa Nussbaum (animation), Joel Enfield (video) and Clotilde De Verteuil (illustrator).

This is devised theatre in its true sense: it’s a little raw, a little unconventional, uses a mixture of styles, forms and media – and has appeal across age and background. As Blake brings to life the sentiments behind the many messages, she creates moments of humour, satire, a little bit of pathos and plethora of audience memories.

Carol Wimmer