TThe standard routine in the theater goes something like this: an actor is thrown into a room; They read it, learn and repeat; And then, finally, they do it to an audience, who, hopefully, will soak up their hard work. But for Tim CrouchOne of the main experimenters in the industry, this exercise began to feel reductive. “Much of the actors' training consists in focusing on the stage and putting the public in a reception role,” explains Crouch. “I was going to pubs and sluts on this subject.”
A oak – His 2005 piece which is now considered a historical work – was born directly from these frustrations. The script, which is written to be interpreted by Crouch and a new actor each evening, celebrates its changeability. “It's a finished piece, but it contains an unfinished element,” explains Crouch. The story of an Oak Tree concerns a meeting between two men: a father who lost his 12 -year -old daughter in a car accident (played by the actor), and the person behind the wheel (played by Crouch). The only basic requirement is that the actor arrives at the unconscious theater. They must never see the play or read the script, and be ready to stand on stage without any idea what will happen during the evening. Frances McDormand, Peter Dinklage, Mike Myers and David Harewood are some of the many names to have played Castmate Coust Castmate over the years.
One of the first performers in the play was Toby Joneswho “rocked” during the Brighton racing show in 2006. “Tim said you had nothing to know; Go on stage, everything will become clear, ”laughs Jones. Part of the call for him was an opportunity to “make a trip with Tim” and to look into the unexpected. “In a way, it is a question of submitting control … It is very moving; There is a lot to take. ”
Susan Wokoma, who played in a radius oak in London in 2018, was also excited by the unexplored territory of the play. “When I started acting when I was a child, there was so much overall work, and it was confidence,” she said. “Then you become an actor, and there is absolutely no risk.” Once a oak is finished, Wokoma “missed it immediately because I had to come back to what we decided from the theater. I felt proud to be part of it – you are part of the biggest company of all time ”.
Now, 20 years after his design, Crouch is preparing to celebrate his birthday with a three -week race at London Young Vic. Actors such as David Tennant, Jessie Buckley, Meera Syal and Mark Gatiss must all play the second role in the constantly evolving drama of Crouch. As a constant, Crouch has now made an oak 380 times in theaters around the world. He retains a list on his laptop of actors who joined the company constantly increasing the room. His game, he says, is like a lizard; He loses his tail and repels it ”.
Crouch began his career in the public parties of the theater company and formed as an actor at the University of Bristol and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. It is written with its beginnings My My Arm, a piece that uses public objects to a story on a man who holds his arm above his head for 30 years. “I was an unhappy actor and I did not know what I was doing,” he said, “(and) I wrote my arm just for me”. But the play was a success, and of him grew up a oak. “I wanted to continue effectively to do what I did with my arm – to use the projection of an actor to transform a human into another human.”
Nowadays, Crouch is considered a master of form. His plays challenge traditional theater expectations. But it is surprising to learn that the story of a oak came before its structure, with Crouch writing one story in two men meeting after the death of one of their children. Inspired by a sculpture by Michael Craig Martin, who labeling which is clearly a glass of water like a oak, the father in the game transforms a neighboring oak in his daughter.
In 2005, Crouch, alongside his collaborator now Long Andy Smith, wrote a play that “aligned both” form and history. Originally, Crouch wanted the father to be played by a non-actor. “But then, he extended to the use of a different actor each time,” he said. “History concerns a lost man, played by a lost actor”. During rehearsals, Smith played the role of the unknown actor / father. “A bit like men in black, Andy would erase his working memory from the day before,” he said. “He would note me on my tone, my clarity and how to allow my instructions.” The second character is always called Andy in the published game of a oak.
Finally, Crouch started to “bring friends” to see how they would react. “We talk to them afterwards and said,” How was it for you? ” Is there something that was not clear? Where did you feel overwhelmed? “, He said. After two preview lessons in Germany, an Oak Tree opened its doors to the now deceased Nightingale Theater of Brighton with Deborah Asante playing the role of the father.
Putting the second actor at ease is extremely important to squat. He meets them an hour before the show to prepare them for what to expect. “I'm starting by saying that they can't be mistaken, and they can't do things well,” he said.
Participating in the “official game” of Crouch was a liberating experience for Jones. “It was quite disturbing, but Tim wrote it, so you are constantly reassured that, as you do, it's true,” he said. “I remember getting out and thinking that the play was just a good idea.” Since then, Jones has encouraged any actor who plans to register for a oak to do so. “I tell them that they will go absolutely well”.
Michelle Terry, the actor and artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe in London, who appears on the list of actors of the next run Young Vic Run, admits that she was a fan of the work of Crouch “for Ever” and lists some of his favorite pieces which he wrote, including, including, including Me, Malvolio, i Cinna (the poet), and the truth is a dog must be at the kennel in rapid succession. “I think whoever loves theater and theater works thinks he is the best,” she says.
The rules of a oak are closely followed by the actors. Game of Thrones is also due to appearing in Young Vic actor VarmaWho avoided talking to anyone has already been in the room. “We are not allowed,” she said, laughing. “How do you prepare for something you know nothing about?” I think I'm just going to go with the flow. “
“It must be exciting for the public,” she says, “watching someone potentially do a Twat on their own, but perhaps also succeed.” The only thing that worries Terry is that the script police could be too small to read; “Otherwise, it's just a great offer to go and be there”.
Now, the big actors queue to play in a oak,, A play that started his life on the sidelines. How does it feel for Crouch, whose work is created in the antithesis for the world of the mainstream theater where the winners of Hollywood Oscars dominate? “I would gladly play in university theaters forever,” explains Crouch. “But I think the play is more than that. It has something to say about the largest structures that work in theaters.”
Obviously, the “imperfect” game of Crouch calls on the masses. “It took me a long time to have the confidence to call me a playwright,” he admits. And yet Crouch has new ideas that boil on the surface. He wants to write more work for children: his torsion on a summer night, I, Peaseblossom, is underway at the RSC in May. But, never once in 20 years, it has not been bored by a oak. “It keeps my brain living and alert,” he said. “Until the theater changes deeply, I will continue to do so.”
