Burn the Curtain
Burn the Curtain are a Devon-based theatre company specializing in immersive, interactive outdoor performance work, where audiences can become playful participants, and performers and spectators alike can meet on equal terms. We spoke to Directors Joe Hancock and Alexander Warn to find out more…
What do you do?
Burn the Curtain make theatre outdoors, where audiences can become playful participants, and performers and spectators alike can meet on equal terms, ready for adventure.
Any place can be magical, and any one of us can create magical moments.
We work with audiences to celebrate our landscapes and communities.
Come and play!
How did you get started?
We started in 2008 in a rather low-key way, but it was in 2010 where things formed more fully. This has led to touring the UK with shows like Don Quixote by Bicycle, The Company of Wolves and, most recently, The Hunting of the Snark, whilst working with national partners like the National Trust and The Forestry Commission, alongside local partnerships.
We (Joe and Alex) have been here since inception, and the wider team has evolved over the years to include community artist Kerrie Seymour, and costume maker Ruth Webb. Many other local performers and technicians have worked with us over the years – it keeps things challenging and fresh for us, and means that audiences are not just seeing the same people in different costumes!
The Tall Tales of Timothy the Tortoise at Powderham Castle, 2019. Photo by Theo Moye.
Who do you work with and why?
We place the audience and participants at the heart of what we do. We help them to celebrate the places that they love, as well as tell great stories.
When we get it right, we bring together audience, place and story. As shared public space is becoming scarcer in this country, we feel it is our role to remind people of the beautiful places close to where they live, and to underscore the value of these places, and the sheer joy of sharing simple things in shared space – memories of an event and a story help achieve this.
It’s certainly not a one-way street, though – just over the last month I have learnt quite a bit from community members, from Exeter’s history in the age of steam, to the tulips Wonford sent to the Chelsea flower show in the 1930s.
Name one thing that would make your life easier as an artist or arts organiser.
Ideally a space that has good facilities, and with a varied outdoor area. We’ve never had a ‘base’ as such and not only would it aid project development, but also provide a more visible presence within the community. It may seem strange that an outdoor theatre company would require indoor space, but safe spaces to play, create and develop are important. Power supply is never a bad thing either.
What keeps you going when things get tough?
The audience and the participants! They bring so much to what we do, answer back, play some of the characters, build things for us, not to mention bring energy and new ideas! In this style of theatre you really get to meet people – often when we finish a show we can’t wait to tell each other about the new participants we have met, and what they did differently – it makes every show fresh.
Talk us through a favourite project.
We should probably ask the audience about that… Here is Adharanand Finn, a running blogger, talking about Company of Wolves: “I’m off to watch The Company of Wolves by South-west theatre company Burn the Curtain. I say ‘watch’; by the end of the evening, I’ll be dressed as a wolf, descending at a charge through the woods in the dark, howling and terrifying most of the other members of the audience as I circle them, led by a crazed half-man. At times, it’s confusing, but it’s completely absorbing. We’re told to hold hands with the nearest person if we see a wolf. There’s a lot of joking at this among the audience – until, down one dark, gnarled pathway, we hear a growl. We stop; I feel a man grab my hand. We stand there, holding our breath, holding hands.”
Not all our shows are this intense, but Adharanand does show how ‘in the moment’ our audiences can become.
What does the next year look like for you?
While recent events have kept us closer to home, this has offered us a chance to get closer to our local audiences – suddenly, 2021 is turning into a busy year!
The Imaginarium project has kept us busy since April, with ‘Wonderous Ramblings’ in May (taking participants for a mystery walk upon which they met a secret artist and made something special) through ‘Imagineers Assemble!’ (a series of community workshops) and then finally in September, working with six artists and five performers for The Imaginarium of Us.
The Imaginarium of Us is a place that exists outside of time and space – just for you. Part exhibit, part performance, in it we will celebrate the extraordinary and the everyday and our hopes and dreams in a beautiful corner of your local park.
It will be a gentle, warm and extraordinary celebration of Exeter – the perfect antidote to the strangeness of the last 12 months.
The performances take the form of a mysterious and magical walk where you’ll be guided by Curiositors through weirdly wonderful exhibitions, mad machines and bizarre objects – you'll see your park in a way that you’ve never seen before!
Performances are on 3, 4, 17 and 18 September at Ludwell, Mincinglake and Riverside Valley Park. You’ll need to book your slot for each hour-long walking performance between 5pm and 10.30pm.
What’s been the best moment for you or your group in the last year?
Seeing people slowly coming back to live performance, and to be back presenting something unexpected in people’s favourite spaces. Watching the first group of people walk towards us during ‘Wondrous Ramblings’ reignited that nervous anticipation you feel just before you meet a new audience. You forget how much you enjoy that feeling.
In what ways are you helping to put Exeter on the cultural map, nationally or internationally?
Over the last few years we have regularly toured the length of the country via a partnership with The Forestry Commission, taking shows to some really interesting corners of the UK.
As well as this we have taken shows to The Eden Project in Cornwall, Hamsterely Forest in Durham, South Wales, Longleat, Brittany, Salisbury International Arts Festival and The Brighton Festival (twice!). We also have had a long term partnership with Manchester University’s Life Sciences over many years.
Moving further afield, we also have lots of contacts in Eastern Europe, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary, partly through an IPortanus EU-funded research trip, and also through the Connected Audience Network and the RIOTE Network.
What did you do during lockdown?
We had started to become accustomed to sharing props with our audiences, but that has certainly stopped for now! During lockdown we retrained, which helped us develop new or burgeoning skills that could help diversify and strengthen what we can offer audiences.
Alongside that we undertook an evaluation and refresher of what we think Burn the Curtain should be moving on, facilitated by Lisa Baxter of The Experience Business. All of that is now being put into practice with the upcoming The Imaginarium of Us.
Even though during lockdown it was tough to not be with audiences, and though our work is certainly adaptable to different digital mediums, our main drive is always going to be the participatory live experience and that has only been strengthened.
What if..?
For us, making meaningful connections with non-arts partners has always been important, otherwise an arts scene can become a closed loop. I like it when we perform for people who don’t think of themselves as an arts crowd, when an arts activity has a function beyond itself, because in doing so it shows more people how transformative shared arts and cultural activity can be.
Exeter Culture could help companies and artists in Devon make more meaningful long term links with non-arts organisations in the area. Exeter Culture could also help us all make more of our outdoor spaces.
How do we find out more?
Website: www.burnthecurtain.co.uk
Facebook: burnthecurtain
Twitter: @BurntheCurtain
Instagram: burnthecurtain
The Imaginarium of Us is on 3, 4, 17 and 18 September at Ludwell, Mincinglake and Riverside Valley Park. Tickets: Adult £8, Child £5, Family ticket (4 for £22) £5.50. Book your slot for each hour-long walking performance between 5pm and 10.30pm HERE.