Feeble Minds - Spare Tyre Theatre
Rich Mix Arts Centre, Bethnal Green
Reality TV rarely confronts us with reality. Theatre, however, always does. Spare Tyre Theatre's latest production, Feeble Minds, is an extraordinary piece of theatre that puts life right in your face, with little room to retreat.
Director Arti Prashar brings together inc. Theatre Ensemble - a collective made of 11 artists with a range of learning disabilities and actors over the age of 60 from the group HotPots - in creating a play based on Shakespeare's Timon of Athens. One of Shakespeare's problem plays, Timon of Athens is a bitter commentary on subjects such as greed, indulgence and materialism in his day. Rather than an adaptation, Feeble Minds is a work inspired by these topics, with a contemporary makeover and a strong emphasis on multi-sensory experience.
On entering the space, a collection of hung kitchen utensils create a rich soundscape which is then followed by various recordings of the sounds of everyday life - running water, cooking noises, and, of course, music. Slowly this becomes layered with projections of text, the singing and dancing of the actors and, rather evocatively, the smell of food. It is only on retrospect that it is clear that this is a show for the visually impaired and those who are hard of hearing. In all honesty, as an under-35-year-old and able audience member, I am astonished by the performance in front of me. Emotions and expressions are delivered with such honesty that it is at once shocking and thought provoking.
A truly courageous undertaking, the elderly and the less abled have so much to share with the contemporary audience. They represent a reality that most of us choose to ignore, until it intervenes and becomes part of our life. But then, they have set out to prove that The Bard's work is as universal as ever, and see it as a unique challenge. As the director says, it is a 'risky and daring' project. Are you feeling brave to see it?
Ingrid Hu
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