EDINBURGH 2018: Guest Blog- Tobacco Road

Guest Blog by George John

Tobacco Road is about the rise and fall of 5 individuals, who attempt to carve out a place for themselves in society. These individuals do not perceive the world they live in as one of ample opportunity and so are forced into the criminal underworld. During their journey to the top of the criminal underworld they encounter resistance from historical figures such as Derby Sabini, who does not take kindly to the newly formed gang encroaching onto his turf.

(On the right Derby Sabini)

Tobacco Road has been a year in the making, research and development started in early September last year and Incognito did a work in progress performance in December 2017. The script since we first performed the show in December has changed a great deal, it was a very useful way of working as we were able to take on board audience feedback and apply it practically. When we started rehearsing in mid-July we started off by looking at the material we had from Christmas and talking about what worked and what didn't work. We found that we really needed to focus on was the telling of the story, as parts of the show were not entirely clear for an audience. We also spent a lot of time talking about the finer points of the plot.

This was a new challenge for Incognito as a company because Tobacco Road is the first entirely original show the company has created, in the past we have adapted shows from plays and books. It is a different challenge when you are starting from scratch, you have to create a plot that is engaging for an audience and you need to do this whilst attempting to be original, and not relapse into familiar stories that audiences have seen a thousand times. We are not quiet about the some of the sources of inspiration that drove us to choose doing a gang based drama in the 1920's (We mention Peaky Blinders at the start of our show, see picture below) but we have workedofficeArt object hard to make something that will be fresh and exciting for audiences. This is where our trademark physical style comes into the fray. All of Incognito's productions have included a style of theatre which we have been developing as a group for nearly four years. We use our bodies (and in Tobacco Road's case tea chests) to create visually stunning theatre, that is dynamic and fast paced. If you manage to catch our show in Edinburgh this year be prepared to see 5 actors melting under the stage lights as they fling themselves around the space with no regard for their own safety, out of breath and drenched in sweat.

(The picture on the left is a production shot from Dorian Gray, one of Incognito's past productions. More importantly it's a perfect example of how our physical style ruins your hair, and in this case, makeup)

Whilst, that might sound awful it's actually a lot of fun and the scope for what you can achieve on stage using our style is endless. We take our audience on a journey from the pubs of the East-end to sweaty underground boxing rings in Lambeth. The story is action packed and the characters are based upon real life gangsters of the 1900's. Tobacco Road is at 15:15 at the Pleasance Upstairs 1-27th August (Not on the 14th).

Tobacco Road is embarking on a run at VAULT Festival, Network Theatre, 246A Lower Road, London SE1 8SJ

Wednesday 13th - Sunday 17th February 2019

https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/tobacco-road/

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