Following on from a successful run last year, Proto-type theatre are bringing the final instalment of their Truth to Power project to Sheffield’s Crucible next month.
The last of Proto-type’s Truth to Power trilogy, Dead Cats is a play that “blends new writing, performance, film-making, and an obvious plant, to show – not tell – the truths behind the fictions”.
Proto-type is a company of multi-disciplinary artists who have produced work and supported young creators in the US, the Netherlands, Russia, China, Armenia, France, Zimbabwe, and the UK since 1997.
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Writer and Director Andrew Westerside, 39, said the company’s latest show is about the loose idea of truth-telling in contemporary politics.
He said: “Dead Cats is about how our politicians speak, and how that speech is very carefully constructed to say a lot but mean very little.
“It is about how accountability can be avoided or how positions can change and slide, that slipperiness and what that means for us as voters living in a world that is saturated now by news media.”
Taking place in one room, the play stars seasoned actors Gillian Lees and Rachel Baynton, who lead Proto-type theatre along with Westerside, with a set designed by Adam York Gregory and a soundtrack from Paul J Rogers.
Truth to power
The two previous shows in The Truth to Power project, A Machine They’re Secretly Building and The Audit, saw a similar political bite, with the first of the trilogy being nominated for an Amnesty International award in 2017.
Despite the challenging edge, Westerside said: “It does not require a BA in politics to be able to come and engage with Dead Cats. There are questions and engagements with the world in this show that are important for every single one of us.
“It doesn’t matter where you sit on the political spectrum, how engaged you are with politics, it matters to all of us. This show is for everyone.”
Dead Cats will be at Sheffield’s Crucible on 10 and 11 May, get your tickets here.
