First part of my conversation with Jonathan Meth. This is the second, mainly about Fenc.
We spoke about his work with Fence. It struck me that Fence sounded like a family of artists, connected and challenging - as families can be. We discussed the idea as a playwright as a public artist, bring together other artists and thinkers to make work, be a part of work.
This project All our tomorrows: Ireland has struck oil! - will it be Norway or Nigeria? is one expression of this. It’s happening on 19 Oct in London, and I’m hoping to go.
“Ireland has struck oil – but will be it Norway or Nigeria? is a performance project from The Fence network of international playwrights and theatre makers in partnership with King’s. It will stage and audio record performance and discussion for a live audience on an imagined future scenario, mapping a moment of crisis in Europe from creative, journalistic and academic perspectives.
This performance will explore the urgent questions thrown up by Ireland’s reversal of fortunes and its new oil-rich future, particularly in relation to its Celtic Tiger past and the fall-out from the Credit Crunch, but also in relation to big brother – the British state and its expertise in matters of oil… Where and what are the borders between Irish and British interests? What does Ireland imagine for itself? What can be learnt from experience in Nigeria and in Norway with the challenges of oil?
As the first of the planned All Our Tomorrows series of live performance and audio recordings, this event is developed by Irish-Nigerian playwright Gabriel Gbadamosi as creative editor with a professional radio producer and cross disciplinary academics as pundits. It is produced on behalf of The Fence network of international playwrights and cultural operators by Jonathan Meth.”
This multi-discipline approach appeals to me. Yes, playwrights write plays, and theatres with a bunch of professionals and performers put them on. But there’s more. What I’m finding with the mingle, what I’ve always known in my investment work, is that different disciplines, different thinkers coming together can create new brilliant ways of seeing, different answers to complex questions; or complex answers to deceptively simple questions. Or just have a fun time together.
Time for more? Here’s a short post on 5 things autism has taught me. Here is JK Rowling on the benefits of failure.