Bring the Happy Invisible Flock with Hope&Social

Guest review by Jaye Kearney

On arriving my first thought was that it was great to see a packed out foyer for the first time since Leeds Met Gallery & Studio Theatre began running their programme from Northern Ballet’s studio. There really was a buzz in the air and not a ticket to be had! Twitter had gone wild about the show earlier in the day and anticipation levels were high.

We were not to be disappointed.

As we arrived the space was set out as if for a wedding or other milestone event, with round table seating, place cards and wine on the tables. As well as the free wine, never to be underestimated in getting an audience on-side, each place setting had an Order of Service and an array of goodies including a kazoo, glow-stick and mini-sparkler. I had no idea what to expect next and I certainly did not expect a chorus line of children dancing to “Walking on Sunshine” (I’m left wondering if there is a better way to start a show?). Through projection, dialogue on mic and musical interlude we are guided through the order of service, a series of chapters that merged together into a performance that was part live art, part wake and a little bit musical theatre.

For those who do not know, ‘Bring the Happy’ started as an installation, collecting happy memories from everyone and anyone willing to share and placing them on a map of Leeds. Invisible Flock while based in Kirkgate Market recorded over 1,300 individual stories from people of all ages. This performance made with the Leeds band Hope&Social was a means of sharing what they had discovered.

‘Bring the Happy’ it turns out is actually more like Bring the Bittersweet and all the more real and emotionally fulfilling for it. Trust the people of Leeds to turn a question as seemingly simple as “What makes you happy?” in to a way of airing old grievances and gripes and though they did not focus on the negative for long I’d like to thank Invisible Flock for sharing Leeds’ memories in all their wondrous variety and not sugar coating the pill too much. The reality is that happiness is fleeting and more often than not a place in our past – a favourite childhood memory, an elderly relative no longer alive, lost love. Despite this Invisible Flock avoided gloom and over-sentimentality beautifully. They spoke of the infinite possibilities of the chance encounter or glance that changes a life. Family and particularly children featured heavily as a great source of joy. Indeed the Ballad of the Babies, inspired by the two greatest spikes in the data over our two great maternity wards, was one of the highlights for me proving that in all this talk of the past the future is ever present.

If I had any criticism it was that I couldn’t hear a word spoken during the section of happiness due to intoxication but even then the spirit of hedonism was captured so perfectly that I remained engaged regardless, waving my glow-stick aloft along with everyone else. Or perhaps it was the wine by this point?
I cannot possibly describe it all and I wish more people had the chance to experience this life-affirming piece of theatre. It seems to me that, as often happens with pieces that take on the big subjects, what we find and take the greatest joy in is the little things, like a sparkler, like being invited to dance, like a free drink. What was so comforting about ‘Bring the Happy’ was that it never felt like a collection of memories from strangers but a homage to love and the things that unite us, the opportunity to connect and be reminded that in many ways we are all the same. These are the things that have stayed with me through today and I imagine for a few days to come.