Are you going to take the risk?
Blush of Dogs is an adaptation of a Greek myth, the story of Thyestes - a powerful and independent woman is dragged into the maelstrom of two brothers warring over their ancestral throne, leading to pain, horror and bloodshed. Sounds grim and over the top. We approach this dark subject matter, though, with irreverent humour and with balance, aiming to see it through multiple perspectives so we're not drawn into a vague and self-indulgent tragedy at the expense of real, honest relationships.
Three actors transform themselves to play seven roles between them to accomplish this: the nobles, Atreus the king, Aerope his wife and Thyestes his brother trapped in their individual perceptions of the world and cannot see past their own blinkered view; the chorus of slaves who prey on the fears and insecurities breeding in the palace and laugh at the events they witness; and Tiresias the blind and ancient prophet who can't overcome his embarrassment to warn everyone about what's going to happen - he's not even always sure about it himself!
As a company we're trying to approach theatre with an intensity more often associated with sports than the stage, and this is why we use transformation and multi-roling coupled with such extreme stories. The energy that is required to sustain such contrasting characters without any rest, offstage break or interval is a challenge for the actor and we've found that that challenge breeds a sense of danger and unpredictability in performance - while our actors are fully in control, they are always open to the impulses of the moment and it's this impulsive presence that we want to share with an audience. The show is never the same one performance to the next as no actor or spectator is the same person one day to another.
We want to bring spectators into a world like our own, a world where we're surrounded by questions and where the answers to those questions, if they exist at all, sound unconvincing and insubstantial. We don't have a particular political agenda but political thought is at the core of what we do. Saying that, we aim to produce work that is physically and emotionally engaging, leaving any cerebral connections to be made at the bar afterwards. We're looking to make a world where smartphones and prophecy go hand in hand, where the recognisable and comfortable clash up against the exotic and the disturbed. We take risks and we're looking for spectators to take risks with us. We're looking for you...
