Preview: Gecko’s ‘The Wedding’, Bristol Old Vic

This week (Jan 17-20) Bristol Old Vic welcomes back the brilliant, astonishingly lithe and exciting physical theatre troupe Gecko.

“We are all married, bound by a contract. But what are the terms of this relationship and can we talk about divorce?

“Gecko’s latest creation is inspired by the complexities of human nature; the struggle between love and anger, creation and destruction, community and isolation. In a blur of wedding dresses and contractual obligations, their extraordinary ensemble of international performers guides audiences through a dystopian world in which we are all brides, wedded to society.

“Combining movement, imagery and provocative narratives into Gecko’s trademark style, The Wedding brings these contracts into question with an emotionally charged and spectacular performance. We want to believe in our journey but where are we heading? Is it too late to stop, to go back, to fall in love, to start again?”

Here’s Gecko’s artistic director Amit Lahav to tell us more.

The show links the ritual of the wedding with our ‘marriage’ to social norms. How did this show come about? Was it prompted by… a particular wedding? World events?
Inspiration for creating work is all around us. It’s in our personal lives, in the news, politics, and in our relationships with our friends, families and colleagues.
Delving further into these relationships, I was struck by a sense that we are all ‘married’, bound by the many contracts of modern life. For me, The Wedding started as a battle between anger and love, and as a hopeful reaction to a world which was making many people angry. Played out around the complex ideas of belonging, state, exclusion and a longing for community, all set within the excitement and ceremony of marriage.
I began exploring wedding ceremonies and traditions from around the world. Then, as research continued, I became more and more interested in the individual’s marriage to the state and the many (and sometimes hidden) contracts of modern life.

Bristol loved your early shows Taylor’s Dummies and The Race. How much does your current style resemble or differ from those shows?
Over the last 15 years, we have forged a unique methodology for creating work that gives all Gecko’s shows their trademark style of emotional honesty and athletic ensemble movement, all with high production values and intricate technical design.
The Wedding is no different from this and includes these recognisable features, as well as the elements of humour that audiences will recognise from Gecko’s other shows. It’s vital to find moments of light amongst the moments of shade in the narratives. As a company we have expanded and developed since those early shows. The Wedding is the company’s biggest show to date with an ensemble of nine international performers, whilst still retaining our characteristic style and production values from those shows.

You had some Bristol links at the beginning…?
Yes, the company was based in Bristol for a few years, before moving to Ipswich in 2008. On top of that, Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director Tom Morris was a key supporter of the company during our early years, as artistic director of Battersea Arts Centre. We love performing in Bristol, where we have our biggest audiences outside of London, and are incredibly excited to be returning to the city to reconnect with our friends and audiences here.

The Wedding Bristol Old Vic, Jan 17-20. For more info, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/the-wedding.html

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