Following the successes of Macbeths (2016) and I Know You Of Old (2017), GOLEM! return to push the boundaries of adaptation yet further with David Fairs’ Tomorrow Creeps, a new play orchestrated from sixteen Shakespeare texts and inspired by the storytelling of Kate Bush.
We caught up with writer, David Fairs, to find out more.
Your play Tomorrow Creeps is coming to VAULT Festival what can you tell us about it?
It’s a new play made from sixteen Shakespeare texts and inspired by the storytelling of Kate Bush, which tells of a former king, now held in a cavernous cell, who is haunted by the ghost of his wife and visited by his captor, the new ruler, who needs guidance. This Clarice Starling / Hannibal Lecter arrangement creates an intense understanding between the two, but will it turn into a deal with the Devil?
We want the audience to feel immersed in the prison, trapped in this dream-like, supernatural-tinged time. When we began forming the idea for Tomorrow Creeps, it was with VAULT spaces in mind. We aim to embrace the unnerving sounds and echoes of being underground and build on them, so we’ve invited sound designer Odinn Hilmarsson to work with us, layering recorded sounds, music and voices to create a world which transitions between a cold, cruel reality to a strange, dreamlike limbo.
What influenced you when you were writing it?
Fundamental, obviously, were Kate Bush and Shakespeare, both part of the fabric of the script: their language, the way they engage with themes, the hidden stories to be discovered in every line, the different forms of story-telling those artists use – this play is just as much about music and poetry as it is dialogue. David Lynch is also a huge influence for me – the immediacy, the structure of evolving pieces discovered in the present moment, the surreal and yet intensely real: Tomorrow Creeps is much more a narrative for you to feel and experience, rather than intellectualise. Of course in addition to these, many other influences also touched the evolution of the story to varying degrees – the novel Wuthering Heights looms large, as well as Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon (and its first film version, Manhunter), Hammer Horror, Rosemary’s Baby, The Wicker Man, The Love Witch, American Horror Story, and even Alien and The League of Gentlemen.
How will we see those influences come through in the performance?
The influences are very much embedded into the heart of the script, through the story, the characters, the world(s) they inhabit, and even the structure of the play, the way the way the narrative unfolds. To help all this to unfold, the immersive soundscape created by Odinn Hilmarsson, which will last for the duration of the play, will weave amongst everything, essentially existing as another character in the room.
How do you go about drawing from sixteen Shakespearian texts?
This is my third play to use Shakespeare as a source material and with each re-orchestration I’ve been bolder and more ambitious. The first, Macbeths, took the text of a single Shakespeare play and re-told the story of Macbeth solely from the perspective of the Thane and Lady. My second, I Know You Of Old, reshaped Much Ado About Nothing to tell a different, darker story. Tomorrow Creeps develops this model of adaptation further by using multiple Shakespeare texts to tell a completely new story. First I developed the narrative and structural frame, then went to Shakespeare, did a lot of reading, and began to decide what sources to draw on. It helps that I have a good working knowledge of a lot of Shakespeare plays (I’m a big fan of his…). Then, with notebooks all around, I began to use, manipulate and intertwine this wonderful raw material into Tomorrow Creeps. Often slow and painstaking, it was incredibly exciting!
You also perform in Tomorrow Creeps, how does it feel performing (and seeing others perform) something you have written?
By the time it gets to the rehearsal and then performance parts of the process, I’m entirely the actor, concentrated on building my character. So in that sense it’s no different from any other job I’d work on. However once the show is up and running, there’s room to take in that full picture and really get a buzz from the creativity of everyone that’s made it; it’s a wonderful, incredibly rewarding feeling. With the last two productions, I was so proud of the shows and the people that brought them to life, and I know this one will be exactly the same!
Why is VAULT Festival a good place to perform?
We love the atmosphere of VAULT: the dark intimacy inside the cavern spaces; the buzzy festival vibe of the bar; bumping into fellow artists and feeding off conversations about both yours and their work. I think it’s exciting to be part of that community whilst making this show – it feels like the perfect collaborative and supportive atmosphere in which to develop a piece which boldly extends our previous model and explores something even more experimental.
Tomorrow Creeps is at VAULT Festival 24th – 28th January 2018
