Photo Credit: Richard Davenport. richard@rwdavenport.co.uk
West Yorkshire Playhouse provides another chance to experience, fresh from successfully smashing the Edinburgh Festival, Testament’s Blake Remixed, a truly amazing show. In Blake’s words, ‘… my business is to create’. This is clearly what Testament (AKA Andy Brooks) has achieved, a unique and accessible blend of contemporary hip-hop culture forms with a deeply personal story-line, exploring his own and William Blake’s philosophy of life.
Because Testament’s journey is so personal, the effect is disarming. Right from the outset, as he begins to address the audience, getting on first name terms with the real person of ‘Andy’ is a priority. In letting the audience into the intimacy of his life, he makes himself vulnerable. This is all done with the light touch of comedy permeating the piece, and with moments of connection made on a deeper emotional level, an open invitation for the audience to engage and respond.
Testament portrays the dreams and struggles of life and identity common to artists and humanity the world over. There is the desire for true identity, recognition, acceptance and the discovery of a greater purpose are threads of different colours woven within a stark reality. He interestingly plays out the enlightenment of belief and first steps of faith which ultimately set him on a different pathway, juxtaposed against the struggle with competing voices from past and present.
Photo Credit: Richard Davenport. richard@rwdavenport.co.uk.
So much is going on in this impressive solo performance, expertly supported ‘live’ by DJ Woody whose world-championed scratch techniques in both sound and projection maintain the high energy of this piece. These are ingeniously integrated into the show, skilfully manipulated and timed to perfection, maintaining the momentum and adding to the contexts and coherence of the piece.
Consistency in the portrayal of the young offenders through voice and rap impersonation works particularly well. An innovative idea is employed as the characters are introduced through the use of ‘turntablism’, with ‘Testie’, as one of the inmates mockingly nicknames him, cleverly manipulating two different imaginary turntables with the different vocal scratches cutting in and out of conversation at the ‘rap workshop’ for young offenders. The complexity of such a technical feat is not to be under-estimated whilst still remaining true to the dramatic intentions.
Cell-block door projections on both sides of the central set are highly effective in adding to the tense, confined, unsettling atmosphere Testament creates in his interactive conversation with the inmates, Tom and Albi, on a further visit. Present throughout the performance is that rich mix of comedy, satire and social comment to which Dari Fo refers, “a theatre, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.” This piece succeeds in speaking for its time in a unique way.
Whether familiar or not with the poetry of William Blake or his mythological Zoas; Orc, Los, Urizen and Tharmas, the performance is entertaining, emotionally and intellectually stimulating, and educative with enough earthy material and narrative flow to be totally engaged. The tender ending takes the audience by surprise as the roller-coaster ride comes to an end leaving a sense that something very special has just been witnessed. Truly, an ambitious and totally unique experience of performance at its very best.
Reviewed by Peter Gray on: Saturday 10th October 2015, The West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds; next performance at Ilkley Literature Festival on 16th October 2015 and then on tour at various venues in the North of England until 9th-10th March 2016 – For details please use the following link: http://www.blakeremixed.com/about.html