The Raun Tree:
Javaad Alipoor interviews Dom Coyote …
Slung Low Theatre’s Holbeck Underground Ballroom is part of a raft of takeovers of empty buildings all over West Yorkshire, particularly in this area of Leeds. Over the next three nights (Oct 4th- 6th) it plays host to musician and theatre maker Dom Coyote’s The Raun Tree, a post-apocalyptic fairy tale with theatrical inspirations from films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and Edward ScissorHands. It looks like a really good show.
During a break in technical rehearsals, Dom and I had a short discussion about the play, the people who made it with him and working in Leeds.
As is traditional with dating sites and interviews, maybe you could tell me a little bit about yourself and the work?
I am a musician and a theatre maker. I wanted to make a piece of work that cuts across these boundaries. These kinds of shows have been called Gig Theatre. I have always played in bands of different kinds, playing different instruments, composing and writing and I have always worked in Theatre – particularly as an apprentice, company member and associate artist with Kneehigh (Cornish physical theatre company whose Steptoe and Son is on at the West Yorkshire Playhouse). But, theatre and music have always been quite separate for me; gig theatre is a way to bring them together.
I am interested in fairy tales and the Surreal and this project tells those stories. Your modern fairy tale does seem to have a dream-space quality.
Yes. It’s a fairy tale for modern times. Told amongst war torn cities and felled forests. It has an urban quality.
For many Theatre goers Kneehigh will be a household name. Could you tell me a little more about your relationship with them? Is the company an influence on your work?
I first met Kneehigh when I was involved with the National Youth Theatre. When I finished my degree I initially trained as a writer, of words. So I was able through that to go the company as an apprentice. They changed the way I thought about art and taught me to break the rules when I make theatre. My method of working and what I do definitely draws a lot of inspiration from their anarchic spirit.
You have a really strong creative team for this project, who are they and how did you come to work with them?
I met Designer and Director Michael Vale (Southbank designer in residence) through Kneehigh. He designed their Cymbeline beautifully. I stayed in touch with him since then. Emily Barker is a BAFTA award winner for her work, she has composed the themes for Wallander and Shadow Line. She has just come up from London where she is nearly selling out gigs she has booked for this coming November. She is also my wife so she is my partner in that way as well as on this project.
Other musicians we will be playing with include bassist Jim Huens, who plays with a number of different bands and project and drummer Nat Butler who is one part of the rhythm section for Mercury prize winner Speech Debelle.
Holbeck Underground Ballroom is a very particular kind of space, reclaimed, as it were, from the Holbeck industrial estate. It has been started by Slunglow. How has it been working there? How has it been working with Slunglow?
It’s been fantastic. I have loved it. The space really fits with the post-apocalyptic world. Slunglow are very generous, they are putting us up, feeding us and looking after us. They are very generous people. We haven’t had that before.
This show developed originally at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Battersea Arts Centre, and did one show at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. We wanted to bring it back to Leeds and Alan (- Alan Lane Artistic Director of Slunglow) liked the work, having originally curated it. He really wanted to host it. West Yorkshire Playhouse have helped a lot with as well, especially with publicity.
Alan Lane is interested in helping the underdogs. We sit between worlds so it fits to be somewhere more underground.
How has it been working in Holbeck generally? It is one of the most deprived areas of Leeds, yet it also has small “regenerated areas”, a phrase which can mean anything to anyone
I’m not from Leeds. My mum is actually, but I’m not so I don’t know the area well. But it is quite a poor industrial area but then there are these pockets of exciting things coming up.
Thanks Dom, and good luck for tonight.
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The Raun Tree, post-apocalyptic fairy tale and gig theatre opens tonight and runs till Saturday 6th October at the Holbeck Underground Ballroom. The show starts at 8pm and runs for an hour. HUB have a nifty bar for you to mill around in after awards*. Tickets cost £7.50 and are available from West Yorkshire Playhouse, or on the door.
*Use of that post-industrial pun is as conscious as it is unrepentant.