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Photo credit: Lisa Ffrench
Directed by award winning choreographer and filmmaker Lloyd Newson, the internationally renown London-based DV8 Physical Theatre is bringing To Be Straight With You to UCLA's Royce Hall as part of theUCLAlive season this Friday and Saturday nights. In what promotional materials describe as "a poetic but unflinching exploration of tolerance, intolerance, religion and sexuality," the evening length production is based on hours of interviews with dozens of men and women as the artists explore how modern society reconciles faith and human rights. Words from the pious and apostate, straight and gay and activist and bystander inform the discussion about subject matters often considered taboo . . . though obviously not by Newson!
Labeled controversial from the get-go, To Be Straight With You combines the company's signature athletic movement with spoken word, recorded sound, video and animation, while remaining true to its interest in contemporary social issues.
Established in the 1980s, DV8 Physical Theatre (NOT dance!) has received wide international acclaim for its work. Newson's take on movement is muscular and full-bodied, compositionally rigorous yet accessible in its vocabulary. The men are men moving, the women are women of the 21st century. The dancing rejects the limitations of monikers and is as visceral as it is intellectually engaging.
Should be full houses at Royce, so plan to get there early!
