Black Mirrors is a brand new devised theatre piece by Wide Eyes Theatre Collective that is due to premier at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011. All ticket sales generated from the show’s six day run will be donated to the charity Help for Heroes.
Based on interviews taken by the cast with soldiers over the period of three years, Black Mirrors follows the story and maps the development of a Sandhurst graduate and his early career in the forces. From a boy joining because “his dad did it, his uncle did it” to a young man attempting to explain the realization of being at war, the performance strives to be both thought provoking in its impact and human in its delivery.
Black Mirrors is the result of continuing research started in the creation of another show; the critically acclaimed I am Woof (5* Fringe Review, 4* Fringe Guru). This one man show uses similar verbatim techniques to explore the realization of modern warfare, at the same time attempting to provide a voice to young soldiers. Whilst this performance enjoyed a successful national tour, culminating in a run at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010, the company continued to interview, research and develop a body of text on the subject. It eventually became apparent that the interviews would benefit from being explored by a collective, and after an initial development period, Black Mirrors was born.
The show itself explores a single voice; A Young Officer that the company have been in contact with for a number of years. It explores his journey through signing up, going to Sandhurst, choosing his regiment, going to Afghanistan and finally coming home. It explores what it is to be subject to this intense preparation, and if anything can really prepare a young man or woman for the reality of war.
An interviewee spoke to us about the actuality of events unfolding in a conflict - how it doesn’t “hit you” until sometime after it has happened. He assured us it was “like you’re in a different mind set I suppose, its weird… it hits you when your having dinner”.
Black Mirrors is the exploration of how one prepares for such a dinner.
About us
Wide Eyes Theatre Co. is a group of four experienced theatre makers and performers, committed to making performance that tackles culturally relevant issues, and strives to be unique, exciting and challenging. We believe that new and original theatre should be accessible to everyone who comes across it, and are committed to bringing theatre to those who do not normally have access to it.
Founded in 2009, the company support each others work as individual artists and come together to collaborate on collective performances. Our debut devised show Dearest Matt explored the bizarre world of football and the unbridled passion of its fans. The piece was supported by the Arts Council England and enjoyed successful performances in Surrey, London, Chichester and Brighton.
Earlier this year we collaborated with a writer, composer, two singers and a string quintet to co-produce a Chamber Opera with the Olivier award winning Opera Up Close. This was performed at the Kings Head Theatre, Islington in May, and broke the record for the number of tickets sold in its time slot.
This new show (Black Mirrors) is being developed at Battersea Arts Centre.
Help For Heroes
Black Mirrors is in association with, and 100% of the box office takings will be donated to Help for Heroes. The charity supplies a support system for mentally and physically injured soldiers after their service should they need it.
As a company we feel that we have a responsibility to not only offer an authentic, balanced and fair discussion in regards to the issues surrounding serving in the forces, but also that we have an opportunity to raise awareness and encourage discussion.
We believe that the preparation for coming home from war for these young service men and women is as important as the extensive preparation they receive to go. Therefore, it is also vital that in our exploration we focus on doing what we can to support a charity that supplies a support system to soldiers.
It is not necessarily about agreeing or disagreeing with the conflict, it is about a collective realization that young service personnel are experiencing wars, in this case Afghanistan, and that they may need support on their return home and their reintegration back into society.
Theatre is an excellent platform to make a noise and start a discussion; with your donation we will take Black Mirrors to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 and do just that.
