THE SUMMER HOUSE AT PLYMOUTH’S DRUM THEATRE
It’s not always easy being a guy . . . and this is a theme that will be being explored at the Drum Theatre in Plymouth this week in The Summer House by the company Fuel.
247 spoke to actor/creator, Matthew Steer, about the play and why he felt it had meaning for today’s theatre going audience and, in particular, the 247 theatre going audience. It’s a show about men and what it means to be a man. It’s also very early days in its development with only eight or nine shows having been played out in Liverpool so far. As a result, we’re still very responsive to our audiences and what they fine relevant in the play, Feedback is really important to us and we’ve found that most of the feedback we’ve received is from the younger part of the audience.
Do you think this exploration of masculinity is something that strikes a chord with the younger element of the theatre going audience then?
I think so, on its most basic level the show is the story of three men on a stag weekend in Iceland but it’s also about mythical figures and the myths that surround being a man. That seems to be something the younger audience can really get their teeth into.
Do you think that, possibly years of women’s liberation, gay rights and other such movements have meant that a lot of the ‘old rules’ that applied to being a ‘man’s man’ no longer apply? Perhaps this is something the younger audience can relate to more easily because they have been brought up without the traditional rulebook?
Definitely! Younger men seem far more able to find the humour in all the contradictions that apply to being a man. Shows like “Men behaving Badly” etc have shown us how funny it can be watching men trying to live up to all the expectations society puts on them and young men today seem to reconcile themselves to the situation by just laughing at it. The three of us in the company are thirty two, thirty four and thirty six and none of us feel like we’re living the kinds of “married 2.4 children” lives that we should be living by this stage in our lives.
See, there is still an expectation that we should do that on the one hand but also be some kind of super alpha male at that same time!
That’s exactly the kind of thinking we’re looking to explore with this show, The three men are at a stag do which is traditionally a time when a man is about to settle down and live an appropriate life but, on the other hand, be a real manly man for the duration of the celebration, This particular stag do gets crashed by Thor and the other Viking Gods to really allow for some contradictions in masculinity. Thor talks about Valhalla a great deal and how that’s the Promised Land for warriors but is that still something men are supposed to strive for today?
Perhaps men in our present society are expected to all these things at the same time?
I think you’re right and sometimes it’s really hard for guys . . . while at other times it just makes us seem really ridiculous. If I tell you that most of the action takes place in a hot tub while the stags try to decide between beers or a nice cup of tea then you get a sense of the range that we’re trying to get the audience to consider.
So, if you’re looking to get in touch with your inner Viking warrior, check out The Summer House, taking place in a hot tub near you, from April 6th until 9th April.
Words: Alan Butler
