Jackie Wylie introduces Take Me Somewhere

Take Me Somewhere's Artistic Director Jackie Wylie on her new performance festival and the loss of The Arches

Preview by Róisín O'Brien | 10 Mar 2017

"That’s so funny you’re saying that! I spoke to students at the University of Glasgow recently and there’s a whole generation who don’t know about it," replies Jackie Wylie to a confession that, until its closure in June 2015 – and the flurry of public dismay that came with it – The Arches, a nightclub and well-respected hub for experimental theatre in Glasgow, had been unknown to me. As the former Artistic Director of the venue (and incoming artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland) Wylie is now director of Take Me Somewhere, a new festival that sprung from the void left by the closure of the venue.

Take Me Somewhere is billed as a "celebratory festival of contemporary performance", an intriguing choice of words. "We want the festival to be able to contain a multiplicity of different forms," Wylie explains. "I guess the thing that defines all of the work is having a particular questioning attitude. Each of the works is linked by a particular sense of vitality or urgency in the way that they communicate with the audience."

The celebratory element is for Wylie the very heart of what a festival is, with the decision to create a festival a result of talking to artists in the wake of The Arches closing. "Festivals create a sense of celebration of the city and the artists. A festival also provides a portico frame. The works within a festival speak to each other, and themes emerge. And hopefully that creates a sense of unity and collaboration across the city."

She continues, "In the process of shaping the model we brought together all of the venues together in one room and actually that in itself was a great thing to do, to have everyone talk about what their plans were and how they might shift and fill the space of The Arches themselves." Creative Scotland and Glasgow Life have supported the festival, while the venues range from Tramway to the Tron Theatre. The festival has similarly benefitted from an academic partnership with institutions such as Glasgow School of Art, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and University of Glasgow, all of which Wylie enthuses about.

But is the closure of the Arches still, nonetheless, a raw wound? "I have to, by necessity, be positive", Jackie says of the potential loss of audiences and the challenge of starting something new. She describes seeing a Take Me Somewhere poster depicting a rave scene, posted near the former home of The Arches, as "even now still having the capacity to move me." The closure of The Arches club, which financially supported its renowned arts programme could not be sustained, a unique model. Jackie describes it as "utopianism" to say that there was a massive crossover. But, "there was an energy, spirit and atmosphere in the building," with its anti-elitist strain meaning The Arches felt "owned by everyone."

Scanning the programme, there's a sense of rawness and vitality. El Conde De Torrefiel’s Guerrilla features a large cast of participants, struggling to react to this much-charged time in history. Performances at GSA include Nando Messias’ Shoot the Sissy, PANTI makes an appearance at Tramway, while Andy Arnold and the Tron Theatre Company present Nowhere, a 'promenade show' that takes audiences through the theatre itself.

Will Take Me Somewhere become a regular fixture? Jackie will shortly leave her role at the festival to take the helm at the National Theatre of Scotland, but she is confident in the team she is leaving behind. "It’s really clear that there’s an appetite for this type of work, and I hope this momentum can carry on into the future." As for the abandoned Arches building itself?  "It’s really sad, there is nothing there now. But somebody could take on that building and start again. They would have to have determination and energy, probably youthfulness, but the building is waiting to be rediscovered."