We missed the chance to see Boys when it was at VAULT Festival this year because we had a clash with our show Follow Suit, and now we are missing it again because when Boys gets to London we will be in Manchester with A Clown Show About Rain! But we still had the chance to talk to them again about the show, the ideas behind it and their dream of revamping the show with fireworks! What drove you to make BOYS? The company has always been really interested in gender, our first explorations looked at the differences between the experiences of young boys and girls as they grow up. Our Artistic Director then began to notice how different young boys and old men are towards each other; young boys running up and hugging their friends in the playground compared to the older men he saw who barely spoke with anyone. He wanted to explore what happens in men’s lives to cause this journey, especially within BAME communities where these appeared more pronounced. Tell us a bit about The Pappy Show as a company The PappyShow are a playful physical and visual ensemble theatre company. Formed in January 2013 by Kane Husbands in order to provide a much needed space for actors to train in physical theatre, we use exercise and training to devise and create work.We believe that having a space to play, devise and fail improves us as performers and informs the way we approach our work. We offer physical training opportunities for actors and non-actors alike as well as producing shows, most recently BOYS. Community cohesion and working together is key to the company’s ensemble ethos. There are so many ways to tell stories, tackle issues, explore ideas - why theatre? Theatre is a chance to express yourself, it gives our company the chance to actively explore their opinions and share them with others. With BOYS as an example, we use the ‘liveness’ of theatre to leave room for improvisation, the show is different every time. These changes are due to everything from in the moment inspiration from the audience to the cast bringing in new stories reflecting their lived experience of the world we are living in. What was the last show you saw that you think everyone should see? The Mischief Festival at the RSC. Both pieces look at freedom of speech, they are incredibly powerful and really important. Big institutions need to continue supporting new work like this. Theatre making is hard and, although we try our best to work around them, it has it’s limits. If you had an unlimited budget, a unquestioningly devoted audience and all the time in the world, what show would you make? BOYS and GIRLS (the GIRLS are in R&D in July) but on an even bigger scale! The audience would get to join in all our games and maybe there would be some fireworks or giant balloons or... What else in the Incoming Festival line-up are you excited to see? All of it! Especially our double bill partners Backpack Ensemble’s show ‘The search for a black-browed Albatross’ Boys is on at New Diorama on July 2 and HOME on July 8. A Clown Show About Rain by Silent Faces is a part of Incoming Festival at New Diorama, London and HOME, Manchester on 28 June and 2 July.
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