KEEP BREATHING AT THE DRUM THEATRE, PLYMOUTH
Chris Goode is a regular visitor to The Drum in Plymouth with groundbreaking shows such as King Pelican and Woundman and Shirley. For this show, however, Chris has decided to do something very new to engage with his audience and set up a website asking people to share something about their lives with him
So Chris, does this unique approach make the play more of a documentary piece rather than a narrative or a fiction?
Well, I’ve always had an interest in documentary story telling and, if you look at a lot of my previous work, I’m fascinated in that place where fantasy meets reality. The website seemed a forum where could connect with people and find out about them. The only restriction was that their message for the world had to be something that they could share in only one breath. People shared all sorts of things. Very personal stuff but also information about geography, science, history and technology.
But all in one breath?
Yes, breathing is something I feel connects us all on a very basic level and I’ve always had an interest in breathing and the air I breathe. The deal was I will pass on their message in a breath of my own.
And did you get a huge response?
In the end I did. There are currently far too many stories for the one show but I do read them all and the show is an evolving thing so some stories come in that I feel need to be followed up on and so I go and talk to the person concerned and they can then come into the show. I’ve been speaking to a lady today in Saltash Passage and her story will give this run of the show more of a taste of the area.
Are people pleased to have their stories shared in front of a live audience?
I certainly think so. I’m hoping that I’m providing a voice for people who have something to say but aren’t necessarily the sort of person who necessarily speaks up in a room full of strangers. As a result of my background I’ve got no problem in doing that so I’m hoping that in someway I’m empowering these people by allowing them to speak through me.
And is that something you feel is important in today’s society?
Actually, I do. It may sound crazy in this world of reality television and social networking but I believe that we don’t make enough space for people to speak in. There are all these forms of communication and transmission of knowledge but all that means is we’re actually drowning in noise. This is a pure communication by thinking about the one thing you really want the world to know about you right now . . . and then saying it in one breath. Even if that process happens via me.
So the show is a very pure form of communication?
That’s what I’m hoping for. The setting is very laid back and I’m engaged with the audience in a very informal way that encourages them to talk back with me as I sat things that are important to someone else. It’s allowing us to consider how we engage with the world and each other and also how we make that engagement more meaningful
Keep Breathing is running at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth until 26th November 2011.
Words: Alan Butler
