Acclaimed theatre makers Rhum + Clay, in association with Hamish MacDougall, announce the world premiere of their brand-new show Project Dictator at New Diorama Theatre on 29 March 2022, running until 30 April 2022.
The darkly comic new play has been created in collaboration with anonymous artists from Syria, Venezuela, Brazil, Hungary and Azerbaijan who have lived experience of making art under autocratic regimes.
Project Dictator follows two clowns (played by Rhum + Clay’s Co-Artistic Directors Matt Wells and Julian Spooner) performing a show amid political instability; initially enjoying apparent freedom of expression against the backdrop of liberal democracy, before the production is slowly engulfed by the creeping shadow or authoritarianism. Subverting the trope of the comedy double act, this twisted comedy highlights the ironies inherent in creating art without freedom, the delicate balance between artistic expression and complicity, and the consequences of long-established liberties being swept away under rising populism.
Syrian jazz composer Khaled Kurbeh, who performs live alongside the two clowns, has devised a cinematic electroacoustic score, which adds further depth to this powerful, though-provoking commentary.
Rhum + Clay’s effortlessly slick, cinematically epic productions blend razor-sharp dialogue and characterisation, with beautiful movement visuals and music, and can switch from heart-rending drama to incisive humour in the blink of an eye. Their adaptation of War of the Worlds received critical acclaim and a major national tour, while previous productions Testosterone, Mistero Buffo and Hardboiled have met with similar critical praise and toured extensively around the world.
Julian Spooner, co-artistic director of Rhum + Clay, said “We want to explore the circumstances that make the slide away from democracy possible. Autocrats come & autocrats go, but one of the most significant things they have in common is an understanding of the importance of art & image – using it to gain & retain power. Artists have always been part of that process of mythmaking, whether coerced or simply commissioned.”
