Interview: Scottee on ‘Fat Blokes’ (Trinity, Feb 22)

“The show was born out of a simple idea that people want fat people to exercise and sweat, so that’s what the show does. It makes five fat people sweat – but the audience has to listen to our stories at the same time.”

This is Scottee – an artist and writer working across theatre, fine art and installation, whose work is brash, political and provocative – telling Bristol 24/7 about his show Fat Blokes, which looks in at Trinity this month.

Programmed as part of IGNiTE, Trinity’s programme of world-class, innovative theatre and dance about issues that matter to people now, Scottee’s Fat Blokes uncovers why fat men are never sexy but are always funny, always the ‘before’ but never the ‘after’ shot.

Scottee and his fellow Fat Blokes

Made in collaboration with Lea Anderson and four fat blokes who’ve never done this sort of thing before, Fat Blokes promises audiences a ‘sort of dance show’ featuring pent-up aggression, Riot Grrrl attitude and some hokey-cokey. After the show Trinity will welcome Scottee and the Fat Blokes (Asad, Sam, Gez and Joe) for a post-show gossip about fatness, swollen ankles and which Spice Girl they’ve always wanted to be.

So, how did the show came about – out of what conversations, observations, experiences or hoped-for collaborations? “It came from the fact that I’ve been making work about fatness for a very long time, and I wanted to create a more cohesive debate about fat bodies and the things fat bodies go through on a daily basis,” Scottee tells us.

The show xxx

“And so I approached a very well-known dance choreographer, Lea Anderson, and I started to think with her about what that work might look like. And I knew I wanted it to be made with non-professionals, so I made the show with four other people that have never danced professionally before. I guess what I was hoping for was a sense of camaraderie –and I got it.”

How much of the show is simply about entertaining audiences, and how much is it about asking them to think about how they judge people on their appearances? Or are these more serious and more flippant sides totally intertwined?

Scottee

“Yeah, well, the show isn’t about simple entertainment – and if that’s what people are expecting, then this is the wrong show for them,” Scottee clarifies. “It is a show that combines some pretty punk, loud dancing and performance with some very real, very human, very beautiful but often very sad stories about what it is to exist in a fat body. So yes, the two sides – the loud and expressive, and the heartfelt and emotional – are completely interlinked.”

Does Scottee believe that fat people (or fat blokes in particular) remain one of the unjustly marginalised or unfairly commented-on groups in society? “No, I don’t. I think that there are lots of other identities and lived experiences which are way more violent than the one for the fat bodies. But I’m not trying to compare bodies here.

“But of course I stand with my People of Colour (PoC) siblings here, particularly black and brown people in the UK, and also transgender, non-conforming and non-binary people who are completely slated by the press as being an enemy of the time. I think fat people of course reach across all of these identities as well when we think about intersectionality, so I imagine, the experience of a black or brown fat person has its other complications that come with it as well, and perhaps its other violences.

“So no, this isn’t about saying ‘our plight is better or more extreme’, it’s just about trying to get a conversation going around body shaming.”

Scottee presents Fat Blokes at Trinity on February 22. For more info, visit www.3ca.org.uk/activities/ignite/whats-on/ignite-shows/fat-blokes

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