CLOD ENSEMBLE
RED LADIES CAN WE USE
NEXT MISSION: 5TH SEPTEMBER, HASTINGS, UK
AVAILABLE FOR UK WIDE AND INTERNATIONAL TOURING
OVERVIEW
Red Ladies are an international phenomenon - there are millions them all over the
world – sometimes groups of them manifest in a town or city a bit like a swarm of
ladybirds. They are a leaderless natural/social phenomenon. Clod Ensemble help
them to organise – effectively we are their auxiliary staff.
Red Ladies was first performed in 2005 in Trafalgar Square as part of Architecture
Week and has since been performed in locations all over the UK and at the Serralves
Museum in Porto, Portugal.
Each time Red Ladies come together they draw people’s attention to different things
– in 2005 as a response to ‘the war on terror’ they drew attention to issues around
national security and civil liberties – in 2014 they focused on our natural habitat –
drawing attention to the continuum between human beings and their environment.
When they arrive in a town or city the Red Ladies draw attention to the architecture,
the plants, the wildlife. They observe. They place sites of political importance under
surveillance. They map the city and make connections between things within it.
The piece has two elements: the outside ‘missions’ in public spaces (streets,
rooftops, riverbanks, public gardens, beaches) and the indoor ‘theatrical
demonstration’ in five movements for mid-scale theatres and venues.
Red Ladies is directed by Suzy Willson with music by Paul Clark (Co-Artistic Directors
of Clod Ensemble) with verse by Peter Oswald.
Having operated largely in the UK, Clod Ensemble are currently seeking international
venues and festivals who, through working closely with the Red Ladies, wish to
illuminate and pay attention to their city and venue with this inimitable, specially
designed performance intervention.
IDENTITY
Red Ladies features 18 women, identically dressed in red headscarves red stilettos,
black trench coats and sunglasses – they might have walked out of an Italian film
from the 50s. They have a furtive, even clandestine physicality. Although they have a
collective identity each Red lady is unique - they are of different shapes, ages and
ethnicities.
Red Ladies started as an exploration of the chorus – as families, crowds, armies, and
nations and has developed into a large-scale piece which begins on the streets of a
city and leads its audience into an indoor venue. – it is a truly spectacular, uplifting
piece of work that publicly challenges our assumptions of what it means to be part
of a crowd.
Red Ladies provoke reactions…
….from amusement, to harassment, to suspicion. This exchange took place near
Trafalgar Square:
Policeman: 'Why are you wearing that outfit?'
Red Lady: 'Why are you wearing that outfit?'
Policeman; 'I'm a policeman'
Red Lady: ' And I'm a Red Lady'
A group of young people asked them if they were working for Al Qaeda. When one
little girl asked what the Red Ladies were saying, her mother replied they were
telling her that if she had something important to say then she was free to say it.
A security guard at the Royal Festival Hall was asked about the Red Ladies, he
explained unprompted that they were showing people they had the freedom to
express themselves and this allows for a better understanding of the world.
MISSIONS
Initially we visit the city on a reconnaissance mission and decide which buildings we
need access to and how best to negotiate access to these spaces.
The interventions themselves allow the performers to experience the city, to meet
the people, and to meet people who would never set foot in a theatre. Perhaps
surprisingly, the Red Ladies interventions are not really about public spectacle,
although of course there is an element of that. It is the intimate conversations they
have with the general public as they move through a city which seem to be where it
works most powerfully.
The missions can be thought of as a large improvisation, there are fixed points where
all the Red Ladies converge or set times when the Red Ladies need to be on a roof or
in a helicopter but largely the decisions made during the missions are the Red Ladies’
own.
Red Ladies adapt to their environment and
some outdoor interventions cannot be
planned until they are in situ - the key is to
be flexible. It is important to be open to the
possibilities and the humour that the Red
Ladies can bring. Accessories like magnifying
glasses for looking at insects or plants are
always useful.
The Red Ladies might spontaneously
assemble a drum kit in an open space. When
assembled the drummer takes her seat and
the other Red Ladies position themselves in
formation around her.
When all the Red Ladies come together
at once it is extremely powerful. The
image can be very simple e.g. walking in
a line through a space like ants.
However, Red Ladies through their
walking, mark an alternative map
through the city or town they find
themselves in. In leading audience
members into theatres in different
ways, in navigating towns through areas
sometimes much maligned by the local
populace or through knitting groups, tea
shops and green spaces the Red Ladies
are creating desire paths or desire lines
that diverge from traditional ways of
traversing and therefore, seeing a town
or city. They make connections through
things that ordinarily would have no
connection.
Red Ladies have always been interested in
who is doing the watching. A statement
from the Red Ladies reads: “We are not
what you think, whatever you think we are
not that.”
In previous incarnations the Red Ladies have
‘evacuated’ at the end of missions by
helicopter, limousine and motorcycle. Any
form of transport from roller skates to speed
boat can be used. Red Ladies can be thought
of as mythic, there are an undisclosed
number of Red Ladies all over the world and
sometimes they manifest in certain places.
The arrival scenario allows this idea to be
perpetuated, as the Red Ladies already on
the ground are greeting new arrivals who
have come by sea and air in preparation for
their theatrical demonstration.
A THEATRICAL DEMONSTRATION
The hour-long ‘theatrical demonstration’ begins with the Red Ladies positioned in
unusual places on and in the host venue as if they have ‘taken over’ the building.
Ideally the audience will be led into the auditorium via an unusual route. When
everyone is seated, the Red Ladies present a piece which lies somewhere between
dance and theatre. Inspired by the chorus in Greek tragedy – the Red Ladies
meditate on what they have seen in the world through movement, music and text.
They remember, they listen, they flock, they knit, they lament, they recite an
inspirational recipe as if it were a political manifesto, they examine what it means to
be part of a crowd or community in an age of the individual. This is an ensemble
performance with 18 women, it has its own specially written score performed in part
by live musicians.
TOUR OPTIONS
1) Full UK cast:
The company can travel with full UK cast to host venue and perform outdoor
interventions and indoor performance(s).
On the road: 21- 24 (15 - 18 cast members, Production Manager, Stage Manager,
Lighting Designer, Director, Musical Director/Sound, Producer)
2) Residency – suggested structure but negotiable:
Clod Ensemble can take up residency at host venue for 1/2 weeks prior to the
production week, working with the host to reconstruct Red Ladies with 10 original
cast members and 8 selected local performers.
On the road: 16 (10 cast members, Production Manager, Stage Manager, Lighting
Designer, Director, Musical Director/Sound, Producer)
TECHNICAL DETAILS
The theatrical demonstration requires a playing area of 10m x 10m, 5m high and a
full sound and lighting rig. Full details upon request. Air freight is minimal and just
involves costumes, 18 red vanity cases and 18 red buckets.
PRESS
‘the Red Ladies are a gorgeous enigma… brilliantly powerful; at once angry, funny,
defiant and euphoric.’ The Guardian
‘The Red Ladies work excitingly and provocatively as a street theatre intervention,
and in the theatre show they unfold layer after layer of meaning, making a seamless
transition between theatre, movement and music.’ The Notional Theatre
‘Voices ranging from David Attenborough to Bruce Forsyth erupt into the auditorium.
Against this absurdist soundscape, the ladies metamorphose into jazz players, ‘50’s
housewives, acrobats, deportment students… constantly hinting at the potential
anarchy in their uniformity.’ Time Out
TARGET AUDIENCE
Red Ladies outdoor missions create surprise and curiosity in the people they
encounter - they engage with the people who populate the spaces they explore and
survey - families, shoppers, promenaders, dog walkers, revellers, passers-by…..
These engagements provide connections for a wide range of people to attend the
more formal indoor presentations in theatres/arts venues.
CLOD ENSEMBLE look forward to working with the host organisation to identify the
best routes to access the people that the host is interested in targeting.
A trailer of the performance and outdoor interventions can be found at:
http://www.fueltheatre.com/projects/red-ladies
For more information please contact:
Louise Blackwell of FUEL (Associate Producer)
louise@fueltheatre.com
07974 355506
or
Angela McSherry (Producer, Clod Ensemble)
angela.mcsherry@clodensemble.com
07968295167