A work directed and conceived by Lloyd Newson DV8's Artistic Director Lloyd Newson directs a multi-ethnic cast in a poetic but unflinching exploration of tolerance, intolerance, religion and sexuality. DV8's new show is based on hundreds of hours of audio interviews collected throughout the UK with people directly affected by these issues. In a production incorporating dance, text, documentary, animation and film, twenty years on DV8 still refuses to be defined.

‘The persecution of people because of their sexual orientation is every bit as unjust as that crime against humanity, apartheid. We must all be allowed to love with honour.' - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

To find out more go to www.dv8.co.uk

See below for an exclusive interview with DV8 director Lloyd Newson

What's DV8's new show about?

It is an exploration of tolerance, intolerance, religion and sexuality. We interviewed 85 individuals affected by these issues, men and women, some who are both religious and gay, some who have given up on one for the other, members of the clergy, human rights organizations and people opposed to homosexuality due to religious beliefs.  In addition to the individual interviews we conducted vox pops in different areas of London, in which we asked passers-by how they felt about issues like gay marriage and the relationship between religion and sexuality. These interviews form the basis of the new production.

What made you want to make this work?

The idea for the new production has its seed in a memory from a Gay Pride March back in the early 1990's. The march went through the predominantly Afro-Caribbean London neighbourhood of Brixton. My then-boyfriend and I were astonished at the level of abuse and hate directed at us by local Brixton inhabitants. I was 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. Our primary research on this project revealed that many people, particularly within this community, use Biblical references to justify much of their negative attitudes against homosexuals.

Then, about eighteen months ago, Channel Four here in Britain showed a TV documentary called Gay Muslims. The program interviewed 200 gay and lesbian Muslims living in Britain. What was revealing was that of those 200 interviewed only one was happy for his face to be shown on television. The resulting program was therefore all hands and feet cut-aways.  It is worrying that in the 21st century people living in a democracy such as Britain are frightened to come out because of potential reprisals within their own communities.

Similarly the over-used word ‘schism' has appeared almost daily in newspapers here referring to the split within the Anglican Communion over the issue of homosexuality. Recently much heated debate and strong criticism from church groups surrounded the introduction of the new Sexual Orientation Regulation legislation which attempts to prevent discrimination of gay people. So clearly it is a sensitive issue for many and I believe the issues go beyond sexuality alone.  Who has the right to believe they are fundamentally better or hold truth over something that is innate to anther person, i.e. sexuality, race, gender?

What do you hope to achieve with this work and is there a message you wanted to get across?

Many of our interviewees, all of whom were based in the UK, remain closeted, unable to discuss their sexuality openly or honestly. So I hope that by raising these issues and a debate around them that people might become more aware of the difficulties experienced by gay people, even those living in a supposedly liberal and open democracy like Britain.

DV8 claims to push the boundaries of dance, theatre and personal politics. How are you planning to challenge the audience with this work?

I'm easily bored if I'm not challenged, and I always assume that our audiences feel the same way. By challenging myself to find a way to turn documentary material into a theatre/art, I hope audiences might see something that is both emotionally and intellectually stimulating.

Are audiences really looking for a social and political message when they go to the theatre?

DV8's work regularly engages with contemporary social and political issues and we've managed to get audiences for over 20 years so there is obviously an interest in politically aware dance theatre. I'm interested in the world we live in, but not in an abstract way, which sometimes means I struggle within the confines of traditional dance. Nowadays I see DV8 more as a theatre company than a dance company. Playwrights have a much more traditional role as social and political commentators and have, albeit it subtly, contributed in many ways to social change far more so than dance.

How do you make sure this is a stimulating and entertaining theatrical experience for the audience?

The word entertaining is very limited and if I'd dedicated myself to entertaining people I would not be directing DV8. I'm not sure stimulating is the right word either but I hope that the interviews themselves, because they are real, are sufficiently important and engaging to interest, and upset, people. It has been a challenge to turn edited (verbatim) interviews into theatre that involves more than static talking heads i.e. theatre that incorporates dance, animation and music. I was also keen to avoid making victim art. Whether I succeeded or not is for others to judge but it has been a fascinating process despite the difficulties.

Why was there such a long break between the last tour and this one?

For each new DV8 work I start from scratch, there is no score, no script, nothing. With this production the ideas were complex that I was tempted to find outside help. I spent a lot of time looking for a starting point, reading books/plays, articles, watching films and meeting with potential collaborators. After six months nothing I had read or seen really felt right or appropriate to the kind of ideas I wanted to explore.

So I decided to find first-hand accounts of people affected by the subject matter, specifically around the theme of tolerance in relation to religion and homosexuality. These stories were to build the basis of the new work. For a number of reasons it was challenging to find people to interview - often simply because they were frightened to tell their stories. We advertised in the press, leafleted in bars and clubs, went to anti-gay protest marches, spoke to people on the street; you name it. In the end we employed a full-time researcher to help us find and set up the interviews. A lot of them came through word of mouth, but also through asylum organizations, human rights groups, youth groups, religious and political organizations. One story often led to another, and our researcher Anshu Rastogi did a good job getting to know the interviewees and gaining their trust.

Finding people willing to be interviewed, editing and transcribing their interviews and turning this into a dance theatre piece obviously took time.  As I mentioned previously trying to find the right (new) creative team for this project took time as it involved projections and complicated sound elements.

What is important to me is to do justice to the people who have agreed to be interviewed, presenting their stories honestly, whether they support gay rights or not.