The Boy James: A Younger Theatre interviews Jethro Compton

“One of our more ‘Marmite’ shows,” is how Jethro Compton describes Belt Up Theatre’s current venture, The Boy James. “Some people hate it and some people absolutely love it.”

The Boy James began life in 2009 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a sideline to a programme of more high profile performances The Trial and Tartuffe. The show ran every other day and admitted an audience of only 25 people. Compton, who juggles his role as The Boy in the show with his responsibilities as both Producer and Lighting Designer, notes, “It’s weird that two years later we’re still doing it.”

It has become something of a flagship production for Belt Up. Returning to London for a three-week run in association with Southwark Playhouse (where Belt Up have been performing since 2009), the show will then journey to Australia to represent the company at the Adelaide Festival. But how will a new, international crowd take to Belt Up’s mischievous ways? The company is known for its unconventional staging and audience interaction and this show is no exception.

“Basically, the audience are invited into a study, where they prepare to go on an adventure,” explains Compton. “Whether that adventure does or doesn’t happen is not clear.” The Boy James is inspired by Peter Pan and the life of J.M. Barrie. The dialogue between the characters and the audience centres around the idea of growing up – or rather of not wanting to grow up. The character of James struggles throughout the play to bid farewell to his childhood self and put The Boy to rest. “It’s not a narrative show,” explains Compton. “It’s really bizarre in that way. It’s not storytelling in the way we usually tell stories. It’s all about the relationship that the audience has with the character of The Boy and how that starts and ends.”

Compton is quick to admit that this unconventional approach has divided critics. The Boy James has received criticism from some individuals. “I think that’s because it’s not the kind of show you can sit behind a notepad and write about,” says Compton. “You need to be feeling it.” In stark contrast to the negative responses, one of the best endorsements The Boy James could have received came fromStephen Fry on Twitter. He was one of many who left the show at the end of an evening in floods of tears. According to Compton, it can be anything from one audience member with a tear in their eye to the whole lot sobbing. With Fry, (“Just been knocked out by The Boy James – still drying my eyes”) the company struck gold.

“To have the Stephen Fry thing – that gave the show a boost and allowed us to continue doing the show,” remembers Compton. “It’s quite an amazing thing to have the Fry quote because people read The Guardian or whatever paper they read and when they read a bad review they will trust it. When Stephen Fry comes out with a positive quote, people think ‘Well I like him and he likes that so therefore maybe I will like that’.”

It’s easy to consider the mounting pressure on a young company sich as Belt Up. Two 5-star sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and some high profile admirers must make for high expectations. “We try not to think about that too much,” says Compton. “We started making the work that we wanted to make, telling the stories that we wanted to tell. We’ve always tried to keep that at the centre of it.”

The question of how a production translates from a Fringe stage to a London one is also crucial. When Belt Up made the transition, it found its work didn’t impress quite so effortlessly as it had done before. “When we came to London for the first time, we weren’t just a fringe company that people quite liked,” explains Compton. “There was an expectation of our work. People were like ‘Well there are loads of young companies – what’s different about you?’ and so when people were blindfolded and thrown into a space, they were a bit like ‘Oh no, not this again’.”

Returning to Edinburgh in 2010 brought its own daunting level of expectation from audiences. Coming back after a prior season peppered with glowing reviews, the company were met with an attitude that Compton describes as “Go on then – impress us.” But the company is still young, still learning and still prone to making mistakes – and so it should be. If, as Compton points out, an audience enters a space with ridiculous expectations, viewers are unlikely to drop their guard even with the ten minutes of participatory childhood games that start the show.

Adopting the role of producer for a young company, as Compton has, adds another dimension of pressure. “I never wanted to be a producer,” Compton recalls. “It just kind of happened. I did the lighting which led to doing all the technical side of things which led to being a production manager and doing budgets, and I then ended up realising that the thing I enjoy doing is producing. The more I did it, the more I realised it’s actually what I want to do.” Being taken seriously is still the challenge with which Compton most identifies. He clearly believes that producing is not a skill you can learn on a course – you learn through doing. And there is support available to young producers. The office from which he works is provided by Stage One, a trust set up to help the next generation of commercial producers. So why aren’t more young people getting into production right now?

“Some people see producers as facilitators, which is not what I do,” says Compton, engaging with the common misconception that producers deal only with logistics. “I have an interest in taking a show that I like or coming up with an idea and then putting it together. And the great thing about being a producer is that I don’t have to wait for someone to give me a job. I know so many young people out there who are unable to get work and I don’t have to worry about that because I’m the one making the work happen. It’s a great feeling, especially if the work is successful.”

This interview is by A Younger Theatre. Click here to visit their website.

'The Boy James' returns to London from 25 Jan - 11 Feb 2012 and at the Adeliade Fringe Festival from 24th February - 18th March 2012. Full details at www.beltuptheatre.com

‘To Live Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure’

The following is an extract from a dissertation by alice harbourne, a student of anthropology at edinburgh university.

She talks about her time shadowing the company in rehearsals and performances of 'The Boy James' in Edinburgh 2011.

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‘To Live Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure’

Having witnessed the performances day after day, I did not notice a visible tiring of the cast, in fact the performances often appeared to depend on how the actors perceived the mood of the audience – the performance was dialogical in this respect.

Jethro, for example, had played the same character in ‘The Boy James’ on and off for about a year, and on asking how this affected his ability to improvise, he gave me an illuminating response:

There are things that the audience will think are special that actually happen every night, but they feel like they’re happening for the first time. But there are other things that genuinely do happen differently, like later on in the show people come over to me and obviously that’s really touching as at the end of the play the boy is most vulnerable, so when audience members come over and return an item, or give the Boy James a cuddle, or a pat on the head - that does happen relatively often - each time it does feel very special, it’s a really meaningful thing. The show is improvised, but based on the experience of having done it dozens of times (Interview, 04/08/2011).

To put his statement in context, it is necessary to briefly outline the play Jethro is referring to. ‘The Boy James’ by Alex Wright centres on a character called The Boy (played by Jethro), who undergoes a traumatic event involving The Girl (played by Lucy), which forces him to accept his fate in becoming an adult: he must leave the ‘childlike’ desires, wishes and make-believe of youth behind. This change is further highlighted by the presence of The Adult James (played by Dan), who quietly and mysteriously rejects the Boy’s plea for him to continue on the adventures that in the play typify childhood. This interaction is most poignant when The Adult James leaves The Boy for the final time alone in his study, with just a written note that the illiterate child cannot read. The character thus makes a plea for an audience volunteer to read the letter for him. He then takes their hand and seats them at a desk in the centre of the room and asks them to begin. Each time I saw the play, not only did someone always volunteer, but also the reader was consistently visibly emotional in response to the letter’s content; in two out of six performances I witnessed, the readers cried.

Wright’s play is heavily symbolic and can thus be widely interpreted, and Jethro’s experience of playing The Boy indicates the many possible reactions audience members can have. On a practical level, the play is restricted by a number of ‘frames’: a script, a series of rehearsed movement, action and speech, which are repeated constantly for a month. Even so, ‘real’ moments of human emotion cut through what could have easily become mundane (Schechner, 1977). Immersive theatre in these instances seems characterised by relationships between audience members and actors which transcend the hyperreality of the constructed authenticity of the show. Conversely, the complete opposite could be argued. These moments of intimacy could be seen as products of total hyperreality – the audience members are so convinced by the simulated reality the ‘world’ that the play presents, that they appear to act as if Jethro is in fact a vulnerable child by comforting and touching him.

To interpret what is going on here is a complex task. One might assume audience members are indulging in a ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ (Coleridge 1818, cited in Emigh 1996), however it would seem the fullness of Jethro’s performance as the Boy, combined with the immersive ‘world’ that the set presents, induces ‘delicious instants of complete illusion’ (Stendahl 1823, cited in ibid). By inducing belief within the audience, Jethro becomes a child who has undergone a traumatic experience for the first time, who must be cared for by his ‘friends’ in the audience. In this example, for Jethro it is ‘the real’ which matters most. The most memorable audience reaction he experienced, for instance, was an elderly audience member who reassured him as she left the play with the words, ‘to live would be an awfully big adventure’, alluding to the script of Peter Pan in Barrie’s most famous work (2007 [1902]) in which Peter says, ‘to die would be an awfully big adventure’ (121, my emphasis). For Jethro, these moments were touching on a personal level, and were what made the experience varied and meaningful as opposed to simply routine. They also condensed the joy of acting in immersive theatre for Jethro, in that to live as a real character was an adventure, and what made the repetition of performances bearable.

This chapter has sought to demonstrate that ‘reality’ was a notion created in the discourse of Belt Up as an ideal to strive for in both performance and aesthetics. It was precisely because this concept was a fiction born out of discussion, however, that when it came to realising the show materially, the concept as ideal became a concept of limitation. After the final performances at the end of August, in the depth of night, I joined the team to begin deconstructing the set. Objects were variously torn, discarded, and offered up to individuals. Their meaning vanished along with the imaginary worlds that would no longer be created; this temporary home was destroyed and the space restored to its original state of disrepair.

'The Boy James' returns to London from 25 Jan - 11 Feb 2012 and at the Adeliade Fringe Festival from 24th February - 18th March 2012. Full details at www.beltuptheatre.com

Belt Up Theatre goes International

We are delighted to announce that 'The Boy James' and 'Outland' are to play the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2012.

GUY MASTERSON for THE CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL THEATRE

and JETHRO COMPTON LTD present

BELT UP THEATRE's THE BOY JAMES

by Alexander Wright

A dark, beautiful tale of a boy's heartrending awakening to the harsh realities of adulthood. A truly intimate experience from the inimitable Belt Up Theatre, "Edinburgh Fringe Royalty" (Time Out). "Just been knocked out by 'The Boy James'! Still drying my eyes" (Stephen Fry). ***** The Scotsman. ***** Fringe Review.

&

BELT UP THEATRE's OUTLAND

by Dominic Allen

Belt Up Theatre, "Edinburgh Fringe Royalty", invites you into a delightful world of childhood dreams and weird, wonderful characters. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s life and work, 'Outland' will guide you back, deep into the imagination you'd forgotten you'd forgotten. Where will your dreams take you? "SIX STARS!!" (Broadway Baby).

visit www.beltuptheatre.com for full details

Audience Reviews: on THE BOY JAMES

here are some reviews from our audiences:

‘This production was beautifully done..... Quite simply STUNNING!!!!!’

Madeline Reid

‘Everything Stephen Fry said, then double it. Powerful and moving, taking the audience on an emotional roller coaster, the performance haunts long after leaving the theatre.’

Pamela Wood

‘Delightful and sensitive play, performed brilliantly by the "Boy James". See it if you can.’

Paul Kustow

‘Immersive and so well-conceived and delivered. WEll done’

Karthik Kumar

‘I couldn't stop thinking about "The Boy James" over the next 24 hours. It's rare for a piece of theatre to haunt you but this will.’

Mr M J Weedon

‘Top class … Terrific acting, especially from the male lead.’

Michael Hubbard

‘A great experience. Very moving.’

David Goodrum

'The Boy James' returns to London from 25 Jan - 11 Feb 2012. Full details at www.beltuptheatre.com

Year of the Producer: A blog for Whatsonstage

Belt Up's Co-Artistic Director and Producer, Jethro Compton, has written a blog for Whatsonstage's Year of the Producer.

A wise old man once warned me that producing can be a very lonely business. Of course producing does have its fabulous show business qualities; opening night galas, champagne breakfasts and private auditions with gorgeous young actresses. However, you spend the rest of your time alone with your thoughts; you lie awake at night panicking about ticket sales, panicking about your cash flow, generally panicking – and the whole time making sure there is enough money in your account to purchase that all important one-way ticket to a non-deportable country and start your new life.Being an independent producer, at times you are the captain of your own ship, with a full crew, a glorious destination and engines running full steam ahead. At others your ship is sinking, your crew has drowned, the water is rising and all the lifeboats have f****d off.

Over the past few months I’ve felt a real change in the way I work with other producers – even the way I socialise with other producers. A lot of people see them as the competition… the enemy. The reality is that we all share the same enemies and actually by working together, sharing and helping each other as producers, individually we all become far stronger.

Stage One gives you that network. It’s not quite a safety net, but it’s a close a thing you’ll get to a safety net. Whether that’s through the training, workshops and seminars that they offer, which prepare you as best as possible for the journey ahead, or the connections they make between us all, Stage One develops a network of people throughout the industry of all ages, experiences and backgrounds.

Producing independently is one of the most satisfying and rewarding experiences in theatre. To be working for a producer and to be part of that experience is obviously brilliant. But to work independently, or as an equal, the theatre you make is your theatre. It isn't someone else's artistic vision. It's yours. And what better way to learn than to just do it? And if you get it wrong? Even better. It's the mistakes that mean something. Successes are pure luck.

And as much as I love the Apprentices, I do love reminding them of the fact I get to have a lie-in whenever I like. And I can take a lunch break all afternoon if I want. That is, if I’m not too busy having nap… or if I’ve gone home early. Or not come in at all. And of course there’s naked Friday. I bet they don’t get that in their West End offices.

For more articles from our Year of the Producer series, visit whatsonstage.com/yearoftheproducer

For further information about the producers taking part, click here.

Jethro is the producer of 'The Boy James' which returns to London from 25 Jan - 11 Feb 2012. Full details at www.beltuptheatre.com

'The Boy James' - The new image

This is the new image for 'The Boy James'. The photo comes courtesy of Claudine Quinn.

You can find out more about Claudine and her work at www.claudinequinn.com

The Boy James' returns to London from 25 Jan - 11 Feb 2012. Full details at www.beltuptheatre.com

Neil Gaiman talks briefly about 'The Boy James' returning to London

'The Boy James was the highlight of the Edinburgh Festival for me, last year.'

After the performance this summer - during which Neil graced us with his wonderful reading skills -he tweeted, 'Incandescent drama. Moving and beautifully played.'

'The Boy James' returns to London from 25 Jan - 11 Feb 2012. Full details at www.beltuptheatre.com