The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Futureproof festival: Radial/Lots & Not Lots
Bonar Hall, Dundee, October 17; Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, Oct 19-20
Young people from Tayside and Fife feature in two events at the heart of a festival described as “arguably the most exciting thing in Scottish theatre”.
Futureproof is a nationwide, international festival of radical new work created with young people and for everyone, supported by Scotland’s Year of Young People (YOYP) 2018.
On Wednesday October 17, Dundee’s Bonar Hall will screen the premiere of the short film Radial – co-produced with Back-to-Back Theatre in Australia.
The film and music video, made with young people in Dundee in the summer, playfully re-imagines video art, dance, music and fashion through a portrait of a community and landscape in motion, exploring themes of diversity and opportunity.
The event will include a Q&A, a short live performance, the screening of Radial and a party.
Then on Friday October 19 and Saturday October 20 in the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, Lots & Not Lots, co-produced with Greg Sinclair, creates a “concert of voice and movement” with 12 local young people.
The 12 young performers act as a choral unit with occasional improvised vocal outbursts and “flashes of absurdity that will dispel the illusion of perfection and give glimpses of the personalities within the ensemble.”
The Tayside and Fife events are amongst 10 new productions from 10 of the most daring names in theatremaking across 10 locations in September and October – all part of Futureproof.
Issues covered include the discovery of young people’s stories through audio headsets, flying kites, radio transmissions, truck rides, installations, fashion and dance.
Radial was made over six days in June when the eight-strong Dundonian cast – and crew – attached to the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) and Back to Back Theatre (Australia), shot at carefully selected locations throughout the Dundee area.
These included under the Tay Road Bridge, Tentsmuir Forest mudflats, the roof of Greenmarket car park, City Square, Broughty Ferry pier and West Ward Works – and The Courier was given “behind-the-scenes” access.
The film exploring diversity and opportunity is part of a Scotland-wide festival of theatre and performance created by young people for Scotland’s YOYP 2018 which NTS is leading on.
Jackie Wylie, artistic director and chief executive of the National Theatre of Scotland, said: “Futureproof will unleash young Scottish creative energy across the nation.
“This international festival places radical participatory theatre practice at the forefront of theatre-making in Scotland.”
www.nationaltheatrescotland.com