To Be Straight With You

DV8’s To Be Straight With You.
A Response.

…an enthralling exploration of the vexed relationship between homosexuality, religion and cultural tradition. (Spencer, 2008)

Spencer is correct in describing the show as “enthralling”, because everything from set design to use of multimedia and movement is captivating. It is undeniably beautiful in its complexity, but these things worked, in my experience, only to enhance one aspect of the piece: the theme of prejudice within certain cultures and religions concerning homosexuality. The entire show is based on interviews with the public, and most of what is said on stage are the words of people who have suffered abuse, but the creation of this show lies with Newson’s own experiences. He states that while partaking in a gay pride march in Brixton he was:

…astonished by the level of abuse directed at us as we walked hand in hand down Brixton Road. We were struck by the fact that people who themselves are part of a minority, many of whom must have experienced racism and racist abuse first-hand, were so willing to be abusive towards another minority. (Newson, 2007)

This is a point that is explicitly explored within the piece, and becomes a clear focus point for the show to be built around. In an age of political correctness, DV8 have produced a show that tackles a very unpleasant and sensitive subject, but they tackle it well enough to make their point without condemnation and attack. But that isn’t to say that the piece isn’t powerful, because if it’s anything it’s certainly that.

Having first seen this relentless piece last year it has remained an important experience in both my personal and performance-based life, in terms of attitude, aspiration and political stance. The piece is emotional, political, informative, humorous and truthful; sometimes several of these at the same time, and refuses to compromise its point in fear of backlash. Though it can appear to directly target certain religions and cultures with blame, it inevitably must deal explicitly with these groups, and in such is attempting a very brave feat. Newson (2008) further goes on to comment that though he does criticize aspects of religion it “should not be confused with condemning a whole religion or its followers.”

Furthermore, this piece marks what could be considered a crossover into commercial theatre as it begins playing in venues such as the National Theatre. Not only has it seemingly been met with little resistance, it has only grown in popularity and has received some glowing reviews, which only goes to show a support of Newson’s concept from the general theatre-goer. His message isn’t a superficial or self-indulgent one; in fact he states “I hope by witnessing To Be Straight With You audiences will also feel a responsibility to challenge prejudice in communities that might not be their own.” (Newson, 2008)

This statement is a particularly brave and important one in terms of the exposure of this piece, because of an ever-increasing, media-fuelled reluctance in our society to speak out against certain prejudices for fear of being labelled prejudiced as a result, a point DV8 also makes in this piece when tackling the story of human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who was branded a racist after trying to have hateful lyrics banned from dancehall songs.

In an interview with the Guardian Newson (2008) states that a comment from a theatre director reminded him of why he started DV8: “We need to make work for the theatre that is urgent.” This comment certainly seems to have influenced this piece as well; with the recent media coverage of gay activism To Be Straight With You seems to have come at exactly the most urgent time, when attitudes are starting to change and be called into question publicly.

Yet To Be Straight With You is not the first show to bring these prejudices into the public eye; Alonso Sánchez Baute’s “To Hell with the Goddamn Spring” had much a similar theme. Though it could perhaps be argued that it is just the right time for this kind of performance to cause an effect, or that it is simply DV8’s growing reputation, it could also be argued that it is DV8’s stylistic choices of text and movement that allows the theme to make a lasting effect on the audience.

One such effective choice is the juxtaposition of movement and text in some scenes, such as one particular scene when a character was reciting a monologue about his father’s violent reaction to his ‘coming out’ while skipping around the stage with a skipping rope. This scene contained such a powerful and moving speech, but was humorous at the same time because of the movement and expression, allowing a moment of rest from the piece’s darker scenes while still connecting to the audience on an emotional level.

In addition, the piece also incorporates a juxtaposition between realism and ambiguity, where scenes such as the above are more abstract and humorous, while other scenes such as the very realistic depiction of a lesbian beating were very harrowing and lifelike, especially when it is considered that all the speech in the show was taken from interviews. Sometimes, the movement compliments the speech, while sometimes it juxtaposes it. Charles Spencer in his review (2008) states:

…I’m not convinced that verbatim speech and physical movement make good partners. It’s a bit like a gay man getting into bed with a lesbian - they have different priorities…the need to combine words with energetic physical movement often leaves the company breathless and the audience distracted.

A point that is disputable in terms of experience. In opposition, the movement only works to further charm the audience and allow them to be immersed in the speech. This contrast of verbatim speech and physical movement isn’t a distraction, even in the scene when the company are “trotting round the stage” (Spencer, 2008), it’s an effective way of drawing the audience to the theme and the realism of the situation. It appears to be complexities such as this that allow the piece to make more of an impact than performances of a similar nature.

Seeing the performance with a group of thirty people, all of different sexual orientation, race and religion and all of whom were asked to discuss their feelings on the piece afterwards gave me something of a unique insight into the effect the show had on an audience. Reactions varied from offence that certain religions were apparently being targeted and labelled as ‘homophobic’ to awe and shock that homosexuality was such a big issue in the society we live in. But the general consensus, whatever the personal feelings of the audience members, was that the production was flawless, and while expecting physical theatre worthy of DV8’s reputation, the effect of the speech was surprising.

On a personal level, the piece succeeded in its goal to create awareness. Already aware of homophobia in my society and having experienced it first hand, To Be Straight With You allowed me an insight into how much more serious it is in other cultures, some of them even here in Britain. The cause is closer to me than any of the group, and has altered my political views considerably; and though it may not cause the group I was with - many of whom were heterosexual - to challenge prejudice as Newson had hoped, it at least caused them to stop and think for a few hours, as witnessed by our discussions afterwards.

If there was one thing the whole group agreed upon publicly, even those few slightly offended by the religious mentions, it was Newson’s message:

We cannot pardon discrimination against race, gender or sexual orientation because we fear offending religious or cultural sensitivities. (Newson, 2007)

And it’s work such as DV8’s To Be Straight With You that does, and will continue to challenge these prejudices in the mainstream.


Bibliography

Newson. DV8. 2007. To Be Straight With You Q+A. [Online] (Updated November 2007)
Available at: http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/LN_TBSWY_Q+A.html [Accessed 01/01/09]

Newson. The Guardian. 2008. DV8’s To Be Straight With You: dancing against prejudice. [Online] (Updated 28 October 2008)
Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/oct/27/dv8-straight-with-you [Accessed 02/01/09]

Spencer. The Telegraph. 2008. To Be Straight With You at the National Theatre - review. [Online] (Updated 12 December 2008)
Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/threatre/drama/3562746/To-Be-Straight-With-You-at-the-National-Theatre---review.html [Accessed 02/01/09]