Al Seed: Splinters

‘Structure and decay’ are the theme of Splinters, the first course graduation show for the Diploma in Physical Theatre led by Al Seed, the founding member of the Physical Theatre Scotland and winner of many prestigious awards. Dramatic and striking, it is broad enough to allow students to explore their own identity. Over the year students developed their responsiveness and spontaneity, studying a wide range of performance styles from Jacques Lecoq’s techniques of mime through Butoh to stage combat and puppetry. “There are recurring principles in our work: playfulness, discipline and most importantly, extending the performative ‘range’ of each individual,” explains Seed. “This involves asking the class to look at habits they have formed as performers and to disengage from them to create performances that are more ‘truthful’. Students learn quickly to work from their bodies and from their fellow performers.” Theatre, says Seed, is “an ever-morphing forum in which every element of human experience can have a place. It is also a hybrid: light, sound, music, architecture, technology, words, and every form of human action plays a part.” This is the core of Seed’s art. The process of teaching has allowed him to invite others to assist in his research and share his professional experience. Although “a tip of a very large iceberg,” Splinters will let the audience get the flavour of the students’ experiences of physical theatre research and practice. Given a wide range of performance tools and choices, the graduates will have a great opportunity to create their own vision of “an ever-morphing forum” within the Arches space. [Agata Maslowska]