Preview: Kirk vs Ming, Wardrobe Theatre

This summer the team that brought you Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears (read our review here), Muppits Die Hard and Oedipuss In Boots present a lo-fi clash between two of the universe’s most revered science-fiction titans.

On the outer rings of known space, the evil emperor Ming is hatching a dastardly plan. Intergalactic domination has afforded Ming planets, dominions and a harem of alien love slaves but he’s still not satisfied. As his frustration grows and his ring of power fades, the evil Ming plans a terrifying act of evil (so evil that all of his other acts of evil will seem morally acceptable and not evil in comparison).

Standing in his way is the last hope of humanity. Aboard the Starship Enterprise, the veteran Captain James T. Kirk is looking forward to a peaceful retirement, settling down back on Earth, owning a little piece of land and remembering the good times until an unexpected disaster sets in motion a series of events that will lead to the ultimate showdown: Kirk vs Ming!

Expect laser-beams, ill-fitting costumes, mysterious monsters, fantastical tales and laughs aplenty as the brilliant Wardrobe Theatre conjure up the ultimate intergalactic power struggle. Here’s the Wardrobe Theatre’s assistant producer Morgan Matthews to tell us more.

Why Kirk and Ming? Best in their respective sci-fi categories?
We’re pretty big Star Trek fans, and William Shatner fans of course – his Kirk is so theatrical and comedic in nature that he seemed an obvious choice to bring to the stage. And Ming is, well, Ming!
We’d had the idea of Andy playing Captain Kirk for a while, so then it was a case of finding an antagonist and Ming just seemed such a natural choice for Harry. They’re classic ‘good vs evil’ characters, from universes that we love and have fond memories of. The 1980 Flash Gordon itself is hilarious and has such a rich world to explore. So both characters offer up a ton of potential for lo-fi ’60s aesthetic and late ’70s camp combined.

How would you describe the process of putting these wonderful Wardrobe shows together? Is the devising a calm orderly affair or an intense, madcap burst of creativity? 
The process itself is quite an intense one, we usually have two or three weeks essentially to make the entire show. But fortunately we’ve learned that a solid amount of research and development helps massively. Typically we’ll spend a week exploring what the show could be prior to actually beginning rehearsals, then in the weeks leading up to those we’ll get together, chat ideas and firm up the story. Once we’re in rehearsals we tend to improvise and then script bits that we’re happy with. It’s quite methodical but actually such good fun – we’re basically just trying to make each other laugh all day, every day, for three weeks!
The process for this show in particular has been a bit of a return to what we did with Oedipuss in Boots. With Muppits Die Hard we’d committed to using particular puppets, so we sort of reverse-engineered the story around those, and with Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears, we had two really strong pre-existing narratives that we had to mash together in order to do them both justice.

A scene from the Wardrobe Theatre’s most recent devised show, ‘Goldilock, Stock and Three Smoking Bears’

With Kirk Vs Ming we’re going back to the style we found in Oedipuss in Boots where we have a little more freedom to make something original, where we can maybe be a little sillier with the comedy. The fact is that Kirk and Ming are two wonderful characters with so many stories behind them, so for us it became about what makes these characters who they are, and how we can show that in a classic sci-fi style.

Do you have a locked-down script or do you leave some room for changes and improvisation?
We usually keep some bits of the show unscripted so that we can play around with them in front of audiences. We’ve always been happy to improvise together and, having done several shows as a team now, there’s a real understanding between us. Quite often whole new moments will occur in a show and then make it in every night. If you see the show on the first night and the last night it could be quite different by the end!
That’s the fun of performing this kind of comedy; there’s potential for real moments of inspiration… and of course the possibility of us losing it on stage that goes with that, although Harry [Humberstone, cast member] is probably the best actor we know at keeping a straight face.
We’re usually tweaking bits and making decisions right up until the last minute. With this show, as with others, the challenge has been to make an original story that people can relate to based on their understanding of the characters, so we’re constantly evaluating whether the story makes sense, and if what we’re doing actually serves the narrative, so ultimately we always end up taking out jokes to make sure that the action keeps moving forward.

How are you planning to stage this intergalactic tale?
Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Needless to say we have some incredible music composed by the amazing Ben Osborn, and some really, really great costumes. We reckon if you’ve liked our previous work then you won’t be disappointed and if you are, then we’re leaving the country.

Kirk vs Ming Wardrobe Theatre, Tuesday, June 13 to Saturday, June 17. 8pm plus Sat matinee 2pm, £10. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/kirk-vs-ming