Artist Spotlight with Mechanimal
4 September 2024
Mechanimal is an award-winning theatre company from Bristol. It creates and tours work in the UK and internationally. The company creates inclusive, devised performance that explores life on a changing planet, and new narratives of our Anthropocene era. It’s the company name under which I (Tom Bailey) collaborate with others.
Back in 2019 we made a show called Vigil, exploring the (then) 26,000 extinct and endangered species on a scientific Red List. As we explored the animal names on the list we realised that a) we didn’t know what most of them were, and b) there were lots of bizarre and funny and beautiful and poetic names (Cinnamon-coloured Cryptic Tree Hunter, Tomato Clownfish, Fire Millipede From Hell, etc).
The list suggested a whole menagerie of life that we had never seen. We decided to explore the names physically, and arrange names to create a kind of list-poem which suggested dramatic territories. I’d just finished performing a show about one animal (a marsh warbler) in 2018, and so wondered what it would be like to try performing 26,000 in the space of one show. Of course, the task is impossible, but that failure is a metaphor for the extinction happening right now and the dissociation between human and animal worlds. The deeply simple DNA of this first show (Vigil) worked – of some idiot trying to do animal impressions – and the show continues to tour.
‘Environmental theatre’ is an odd one. Climate change is usually communicated through the media via depressing scenarios and bad news. So in the theatre it’s usually a natural turn-off for audiences. I think what I’m trying to do is find new, fresh ways of exploring these changes going on in the Anthropocene. One way is through exploring big topics with a sense of energy, fun and oddballness.’
When we came back to explore the Red List post pandemic, we realised that (tragically) the number of extinct/endangered species had almost doubled. We felt that we wanted to make a new show to respond to this fact. Hence Crap at Animals was made. We felt that this was also a new opportunity to reach new and more diverse audience groups, who might never set foot inside a theatre for an ‘eco’ show.
So here we are now, with a new show with new species, more clowning and more stupidity, plus a mock VR experience – and, critically, new audience groups. It’s been a pleasure to develop the project through the Without Walls programme, and learn loads through the interaction with people. Across the show’s first summer, the show has grown and evolved, finding loads more points of play with kids and adults and grandparents. There’s a deep honesty and moving, everyday normality in the interaction with audiences outdoors that is really nice to work within. Naturally there are technical challenges but it’s been kind of fun to work with these. Outdoor daytime projection? No problem. Whack a monster projector inside a gazebo and hope it works 🙂
‘As part of the project, we’ve also been exploring radical ways of green / sustainable touring.’
Since 2022 I’ve been in collaboration with Passage Festival in Denmark exploring these topics. As a result, I made a very long journey by foot and by sea to deliver Crap at Animals in Denmark this summer – driven by the question: Can we find inspiration for new ways of arts touring in the natural world? In this instance, I was exploring ‘treelines’ and tree migration. It took 2 months, walking across northern Scotland, sailing to Norway, walking across the mountains of south Norway to Oslo, and then sailing to Denmark. The journey was hard and epic and (I found) a kind of artwork in itself – I was documenting my process of performing species in the landscape, writing about my experiences, and carrying a list of the 48,000 species (currently on the Red List) printed on a huge 16m long piece of fabric. At the same time, I was exploring Nordic forests and trees, in development for a new show.
Documentation of this journey via the blog and a short form photo essay can be found below.
Both processes (the walk and the show) have been a huge pleasure – and we’re excited to see where this whole thing evolves to next.
Credits
Images from Crap at Animals at Norwich & Norfolk Festival © Alex Brenner
Images from Tom’s touring journey across Scotland and Norway © Bjarte Bjorkum
