Theatre company on a roll
Theatre with a pungent message which began in Aberdeen is now being rolled out across Scotland. Nicola Barry talks to its founder.
They say you shouldn't make a drama out of a crisis, but "they" aren't always right.
That is exactly what Vanessa Chew does, week in, week out. As chief cook and bottle-washer for Live Wire Theatre Company, she reckons her job has more sides than a duodecagon.
She is referring to her role as founder, production, managing director, team leader and team player with the company.
Within these roles are more roles, a bit like Matreshka, the nesting Russian doll. For example, as producer, Vanessa must find money to produce her shows, for scripts to be written, for accompanying teachers' resources notes, for DVDs, CDs and for publishing packs.
"We are restricted by whatever funds we have," Vanessa said.
Born and brought up in South Wales, Vanessa is a woman for whom the word 'feisty' might have been invented. She moved to Aberdeen in 1980 with her three children, Paul, Julia and Sarah, and husband Mike, who works in the oil industry.
Vanessa is commissioned to write plays about burning issues. She puts on a play at a prearranged location and discusses its impact with the audience once the performance is over.
"The end result of what we do is what happens in front of schools, teachers, parents, at workplaces and in community groups. Everything else is just a process leading up to that points," she said.
Vanessa started her mobile theatre company back in 1994 in her own home in Newtonhill. In those days, it was a one man and a dog organisation. Now, she has premises in Regent Quay, six actors and office staff. Last year, 16,000 children saw 150 shows, including a pantomime at Haddo House Hall in Aberdeenshire. This year, the company is producing Aladdin.
"I have to establish our objectives, our target group, our budget and timeframe," Vanessa said.
"In essence, Live Wire is a vehicle for people's messages. And part of my job is to find out what message a client wants to get across then translate it into drama. I've done it for Drinkwise, for Crimestoppers and for the Rowett. Whether it's the public or private sector, we can always get a message across."
If anybody can do it, Vanessa Chew is the person.
She gave birth to Live Wire while she was a volunteer with Aberdeen's Satrosphere Sciene Centre, involved with occasional dramas about scientific matters. Originally, Vanessa wanted to run a travelling theatre group with a remit to promote science. She discussed her proposal with the director of Satrosphere and Live Wire came into being.
"It was the early 90s," Vanessa recalled, "and, at the time, we had nothing. No actors, no venue, no money, no nothing."
Vanessa set about addressing this situation with the tenacity of a hyperactive terrier. She approached big companies, the Scottish Executive, anyone with an int3erest in the subject she was tackling.
All these years later, the subjects are as varied as Vanessa' clients. There was Brief Encounters, a play about depression, Oooh, My Back Hurts, about back care; Where Did my Dinner Go?, about healthy eating, and It's Getting Hotter, about global warming.
She has produced several plays about alcohol and drugs, notably Snow Ice and the Seven Shorts, Bliza's Hiccup, Hooked and Double Vision, as well as a current production sponsored "generously" by Shell, called Uncomfortable Shoes, by Sharon Marsh, about young carers in the home. Next week, children from Aberdeen will be going into a recording studio to record the music for the CD.
"Many of the programmes I have produced in the past are now being published and distributed to schools all over Britain," Vanessa said.
She has some excellent actors who have stayed the course, like Alistair Harvey, Torquil Buxton, Steve Worsley and Michelle Bruce, as well as an innovative drama teacher, Julie Hutton.
Although Live Wire sets out to grab people's attention with good drama, the actors need an additional skill - to know their subject so they can field questions at the session which follows every performance.
The audience first watches a play based on a given topic and this is followed by a question-and-answer session between the audience and the actors, who sometimes remain in character.
This is different from ordinary drama. In popularising sometimes sensitive subjects, it is vital that the information presented - during the play and the question-and-answer session which follows - is accurate and factual.
Live Wire has had some excellent reviews. The company has grown fourfold in three years so the actors must be doing something right.
"We are very self-critical," Vanessa said. "We update all the time, and we customise every production to each audience. We try to popularise all our subjects, give them a good story line so that people can relate to them in a way they find palatable."
As far as job satisfaction is concerned, Vanessa's seems to have gone through the roof. "The minute I started doing this job," she said, smiling, "I stopped working."
Press and Journal, Friday 30 th September 2005