"I'm interested in abstracting [social ideas into performances]. I look at many dance works and find them meaningless - they're merely movement manipulation," said legendary British choreographer Lloyd Newson, who founded DV8 (short for "Dance and Video 8") Physical Theatre in 1986.

This statement was heard at "Ringside", a lunchtime meet-the-artistes forum at the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts, where his new work "To Be Straight with You" kicked off its world tour in March, after the previews at the Berliner Festspiele last December.

The company's artistic policy reads, "DV8 Physical Theatre's work is about taking risks, aesthetically and physically, about breaking down the barriers between dance, theatre and personal politics and, above all, communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously."

"To Be Straight with You", described by its creator as "a work about tolerance, culture, religion, and homosexuality", proved true to its words.

The spoken words of this performance were carefully edited from DV8's interviews with 85 multi-ethnic British people, mostly immigrants with strict religious beliefs who have directly experienced homophobia or who are in a dilemma between their faith and sexuality.

The 80-minute performance might sound text-heavy at times, especially with various dialects of English, including Jamaican and African. However, when the multi-ethnic cast of performers moved, their vivacity added layers of meaning. The overall stage visual was partly complimented with the smartly-designed movable sets, like small rooms with doors and walls, onto which text and images were projected, and the audience could passionately feel their anguish.

Most of the audience was awed by the fact that, even in this day and age, homosexuality is illegal in more than 80 countries, eight of which, all Muslim, have a death penalty.

This is in stark contrast to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's words on the programme's cover: "The persecution of people because of their sexual orientation is every bit as unjust as that crime against humanity, Apartheid. We must be allowed to love with honour."

Newson explained why he often opted to make use of his performers' mouths than limbs.  "As I get older, I like the complexity the language offers. We're making use of the words more than their meanings, though," Newson said. Though some dance audiences are upset or disappointed when they see "dancers" speak on stage, Newson said, "I see my role as a theatre maker. I want to make good, clear theatre. If I want to make somebody talk about what I can't say through dance, why can't I?"

Newson also said that he left minstream dance because he felt [the creators] didn't respect audiece. Unlike many commercial dance and theatre productions the director of which appoint resident director to look over the production when it goes on tour, Newson said, "I'm always working on it. It's never been finished. The only chance for it to be finished is when I film it."

At the Festival Centre's Space Theatre, Newson spent days in sound technical rehearsals, making sure that all audiences would be able to see and hear the performance clearly. Plus, he even asked some seats on the sides to be blocked off as the sightlines were not good.

One of the year's most talked-about performances, "To Be Straight with You" is currently touring the UK, and will head to the Zurich Festival next month and the US in autumn.

For more information, visit www.DV8.co.uk.

written by Pawit Mahasarinand

published in The Nation on Saturday, May 10, 2008

all photos courtesy of Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts