Sub Rosa: Beneath the Citizens Theatre, Dark Passions Rage

David Leddy has been messing with theatre for a while. Home Hindrance was performed in his own house, and Sussurus was an original take on the Botanical Garden audio tour. Taking on the January slack, he has teamed up with the Citz to plunge the depths of theatrical gothic.

For Sub Rosa, Leddy utilises the hidden spaces of the Citizens to consider the abuse of power. “It is a Victorian narrative using music hall as a metaphor for power relationships,” he explains. “The story is of a chorus girl who burns to death, and we follow her best friend’s attempt to avenge her death by staging a revolution and taking over the theatre. Along the way we meet these grotesque and amoral characters: an artist who impersonates Siamese twins twenty four hours a day; a drunken, opium raddled old chorus girl.”

Pulling on his script and more left-field influences, Leddy is creating an intimate melodrama that is far from the standard two act two hander. A large cast, including Alison Peebles and Cora Bisset, will lead the audience through both the story and the building. “It’s exciting that the Citz has asked me to do it. I make a lot of site specific work and I really like it, but these old theatres are lovely buildings and you usually only get to work in them if you are doing [stuff like] Death of a Salesman. Nothing against Death of a Salesman, but that’s not what I do!”

Leddy’s approach is eclectic. “I specialise in new writing that brings in elements of performance art, and is often site specific.” What makes him unique is his willingness to engage with both traditional and radical approaches to performance. “My background is performance art, where you can do anything! It’s funny when I work with more traditional theatre people, when people think the work is really radical. I think that it isn’t all that! For Home Hindrance, they were bewildered when I would say there is a great tradition of people performing in their homes.”

This fusion of old school and new wave is where Leddy excels. He is a respected experimenter and a box-office draw. Sub Rosa will add a chill of horror and glamour to the freezing January nights.