As part of their course work, second year students on the BA Theatre And Performance course at The Arden are tasked with not only devising and delivering a self-devised piece of site-specific theatre, but also in finding the venue too. Once the venue has been found, the students have three weeks to bring their ideas to production.
This year, the venue chosen was Antwerp Mansion, a place so unknown to even the locals that after knowing that I was almost on top of the place but unable to find it, the several locals I did ask gave me various answers all proving fruitless, except for a young boy playing in his drive who knew exactly where it was and even showed me the main gate, which was locked and no signage. It is almost as if the owners of the venue simply didn't want anyone to find it or want any publicity. Once inside the 'mansion', I was given a very brief history of the building from its beginnings as a mansion house, through to being the Belgium Consulate, a Gentlemans' Club, a deserted and unlived-in ruin, to a rave venue, and now a Music and Arts Centre. The grafittied bare walls both inside and out, with a distinct lack of furniture or furnishings, as well as the unmistakable smell of young people having had a good and maybe slightly illegal time here, all added to the atmosphere in this building which was in a state of disrepair and had most obviously seen much better days.
All of this however prepared me well for the piece of theatre which I was about to witness. The students had also taken the history of this building and used it as the starting point of their offering. Behind The Smile pulled in two directions simultaneously. First, there was the 'story' of the mansion; grand lords and ladies of a byegone era - perhaps ghosts - reminiscing about how the building looked and how wonderful and splendid it was juxtaposed with the present day 'inhabitants' of the place and their use of the building as a night club. Second, it was through these modern day citizens that the title of the piece was made much more evident. Thes people were disillusioned, unwanted, unloved, forgotten or abandoned by society or family. They come to this place to forget and to, even if only for a brief period, be happy. Yes, you might see me smiling, but it what lies behind the smile that is the true me. This idea ran through the 'ghosts' too, but not as strongly or as obviously. The building then being a rather obfuscated allegory for the piece of theatre taking place within it. The history of the building being what lies beneath the building's present facade.
Throughout the venue - this was a promenade performance and we walked the entire venue [no wheelchair access and not good for those with mobility problems - a flight of stairs and other steps and tricky, small spaces to negotiate] there were cakes and biscuits everywhere (the symbol of the rich of the past) and the modern 'Smiley' emoji. And in one scene, a little incongruously perhaps, saw the use of Theatre Of The Grotesque as they sat down for dinner.
The 9 performers, as well as acting their roles, ushered us in character through the route, taking us from room to room (at one point dividing us into smaller groups) and to outside locations too. The characters from the past intermingled with those from the present until it was impossible to distinguish one from the other, and the whole culminated in a huge dance with all the audience in the main 'disco' room, complete with coloured light beams and modern music. Interestingly though, despite the modernity of the setting, the cast started with a courtly folk dance.
Wearing yellow Smiley emoji masks, the cast stood to one side and waved us all good-bye as we left.
Part history lesson, part emotional-awareness seminar, part mystery tour, sometimes it felt hugely voyeuristic, other times very theatrical; this 50 minute presentation was treated by all the cast with sincerity and veritas. Undeniably it was bizarre, and I left with a rather large question mark in my brain; maybe that was their intention. However, I cannot fault the sensitivity and authenticity of the performers.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 26/3/19
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