Alexander NicholsonAs David Byrne prepares to take Kubrick3 to the Edinburgh Fringe, Alexander Nicholson catches up with him to talk conmen, gay plays and why young theatre companies should write to David…
AN: So, first of all: what’s the story behind Kubrick3? What led you to write it?
DB: Kubrick3 is the story of Alan Conway, a serial conman, who I first came across on a television documentary about con-artists. I immediately got the feeling that there was a piece of theatre here. The things he did were so incredible and the fact people believed them was even more staggering, and I wanted to work out why. Secondly, everything Alan said when describing his cons was very theatrical. All about “going on stage” and when his “mask slipped” etc. The challenge is that his story is all about trickery and fooling people, so we knew there were certain things we wanted to hide from the audience… Also, since there are so many discrepancies in his story, there are several versions of the same event – and even we don’t know what’s true or not! So we’ve had to make some decisions about which of his lies might have been true.
Finding a way of tripping him up in his own lies has been fun. In our production we’ve got four simultaneous Alan Conways, who contradict each other, argue and fight. Which means, on stage, we’ve found a way of being able to sell each of his different “realities” and motives. So we’ve got four Conways pretending to be Stanley Kubrick, trying to, say, seduce a young actor or lie their way through an interview as Kubrick. Conway was also a born performer so there’s also a certain satisfaction to know that he’s finally getting his audience.
AN: I’m sure he’d be pleased. You’ve also directed this show. What challenges did you face with the particular shape and style of the play? How do you juggle your Conways while keeping the audience largely on track?
DB: We’re still struggling with the shape of the play but the style came very early on. Originally it was going to be very Katie Mitchell – lots of recorded video and synced movement, but as soon as we put him in front of an audience, it was clear they wanted to laugh He’s such a fun voice to write for that it’s glorious getting to create multiple instances of him. Luckily, regarding the direction, I’m working with my core PIT company who’ve all worked together before and can create a lot of material very quickly. So creating the style hasn’t been a problem and now we’re intensively working on the “shape” and “storytelling”.
AN: Why did you want to put on Kubrick3 at the Edinburgh Festival?
DB: New Diorama is a theatre that supports emerging theatre companies: a big part of the year for many of our companies is Edinburgh. We offer a lot of advice and support, but this year I thought we should put our money where our mouth is and take a show up with our supported companies. We want to better advise people and be able to help, to spread our name around to younger companies who might not have heard of us, and to help establish ourselves as artists who can make and produce work (even when it’s not in our own theatre). Plus the show is a lot of fun. We performed 15 minutes of it at the Arcola Theatre as part of the Miniturists last year and it went down really well.
AN: It’s excellent that you’re trying to reach out to new companies. What would be your chief pieces of advice to upcoming writers and directors looking to impress you?
DB: I think it’s be true to yourself and your voice. The pieces I always enjoy the most are when work feels honest and fresh. We always say that a true theatre company is a group of people making work “only they could create”. When people are speaking with a clear voice that’s honest, the work always feels new, relevant and exciting. That and make sure you write to me, so I know to come and see the piece, and that you and your company are keen to come and work with us at New Diorama.
AN: What would you say to anyone considering bringing something to the Fringe, trying to make up their minds?
DB: I think you’ve got to have a clear idea of what you want to get out of it and how you’d achieve that. Any theatre endeavour is very hard work: Edinburgh Festivals, a London run, a regional tour etc. And when you’re a young company, with limited resources, you always need to be looking at what will take you to that next stage of your development. Those companies which have the best Edinburgh tend to know what they want from it, arrive with a plan and really hit the ground running. It’s a great place to get a plethora of press, meet a lot of arts professionals, meet fellow theatre-makers who you can learn from and find a ready audience you can introduce to your work. But it isn’t the be-all and end-all. A lot of very successful companies never go to the festival and are doing just fine!
AN: A problem that many young performers cite these days is that Edinburgh requires more and more investment, in terms of time as well as resources. What do you think these newcomers can do to make what little they have go further?
DB: I think taking work to Edinburgh is always hard. PIT, my company, never have much money or resources to make festival shows happen. Support and money follow hard-working artists making interesting work. My advice would be: work together to make it happen. Pool your resources and your contacts. Start early so you can start gathering supporters and look into organisations that support work at the festival. There are quite a few more of them around these days – IdeasTap, Old Vic New Voices, Pleasance, Arts Council England (for those living in the East of England) as well as other arts funds that may be available regionally.
AN: What’s your goal for this festival season?
DB: On a personal level, I wanted to make sure we were there to help and support more companies during the festival. We also wanted to show that the artistic work that we make ourselves could stand up and compete with the best of them, and we weren’t getting too comfortable now we’ve got a theatre building. Our PIT shows have always been a bit like fireworks – we set them off and then that’s it. We rarely re-visit productions, even though we’ve been asked many times. So my hope is that Kubrick3 might be our first PIT show to really tour after the festival.
AN: You describe Conway as an unsuccessful homosexual, and he often described his partner dying of AIDS. To what extent is Kubrick3 a piece of gay theatre?
DB: Well, we’re not entirely sure how much about the AIDs story is true! I think most of society now is at a point where being gay is rarely at the centre of a new piece of drama and theatre – it isn’t the centre of the piece, which you’d expect in a piece labelled as a “gay play”. The same was true of the Alan Turing piece, The Universal Machine, that we just completed. I think we’re at a point now where we can look beyond homosexuality as being the defining feature in any such piece, and accept it as just being part of the many complexities of any given character.
Kubrick3 will be at the Pleasance Courtyard from 31 July – 26 August. For more information and tickets, visit the Edinburgh Fringe website.