Listen "The Chat - Q&A"
Episode Synopsis
This post show Q&A was recorded on 28th July 2016
Devised by both artists and former prisoners, The Chat takes a dark and humorous look at the criminal justice system. Led by theatre maker and former parole officer, J R Brennan, with writer-performer David Woods (Ridiculusmus), The Chat is an administrative nightmare of comic proportions where offenders become parole officers, actors become criminals, and the parole board is played by you, the audience. How and when should crimes be forgiven? Who gets to decide? What happens if they get it wrong? Against the steely beauty of a heavily surveilled interview room, former prisoners share the stage with performers J R Brennan, David Woods and Ashley Dyer to build a new world order for ‘justice arts’ – a world of crime stories, interpretive dance and bleak, possibly horrific comedy.Radically disruptive, The Chat transforms the theatre into a tense and liminal space where offenders stand on the brink of freedom, taboos unravel, and all of us are put on trial.
Concept: J R Brennan
Co-Creators: J R Brennan & David Woods
Collaborator: Ashley Dyer
Performers: Nick Apostolidis, Arthur Bolkas, J R Brennan, Ashley Dyer, Tye Luke, Nick Maltzahn, John Tjepkema & David Woods
Lighting Design: Jennifer Hector
Media & System Design: Alex Davies & Nick Roux
Devised by both artists and former prisoners, The Chat takes a dark and humorous look at the criminal justice system. Led by theatre maker and former parole officer, J R Brennan, with writer-performer David Woods (Ridiculusmus), The Chat is an administrative nightmare of comic proportions where offenders become parole officers, actors become criminals, and the parole board is played by you, the audience. How and when should crimes be forgiven? Who gets to decide? What happens if they get it wrong? Against the steely beauty of a heavily surveilled interview room, former prisoners share the stage with performers J R Brennan, David Woods and Ashley Dyer to build a new world order for ‘justice arts’ – a world of crime stories, interpretive dance and bleak, possibly horrific comedy.Radically disruptive, The Chat transforms the theatre into a tense and liminal space where offenders stand on the brink of freedom, taboos unravel, and all of us are put on trial.
Concept: J R Brennan
Co-Creators: J R Brennan & David Woods
Collaborator: Ashley Dyer
Performers: Nick Apostolidis, Arthur Bolkas, J R Brennan, Ashley Dyer, Tye Luke, Nick Maltzahn, John Tjepkema & David Woods
Lighting Design: Jennifer Hector
Media & System Design: Alex Davies & Nick Roux
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