Focus on: Grid Iron

Grid Iron, 'the magicians of site-specific performances’ (Susannah Clapp, The Observer), is an Edinburgh-based theatre company specialising in site-specific work.  Since their incorporation in 1995, Grid Iron has flourished.  It quickly grew a reputation for high quality and high profile productions, next came the movement to site-specific work and their associated high standing.

Grid Iron have produced several site-specific shows, gaining critical and audience acclaim.  For example:

• In 1997, their first full-scale site-specific production, The Bloody Chamber, was held in Edinburgh’s underground vaults beneath the Royal Mile.  It was a sell-out show in Edinburgh, and when it transferred to the London Dungeon, it won the Herald Angel for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in Theatre, and Total Theatre Nominations for Best Newcomers and Best Design.

One of two new site-specific productions from Grid Iron in 2003 was Those Eyes, That Mouth.  It won an unprecedented five awards during August: Scotsman Fringe First, Herald Angel, Herald Devil, Stage Award for Acting Excellence – Best Actress, and Daily Mail Spirit of the Fringe.

The Guardian have claimed that “Grid Iron is unsurpassed in its ability to create site-specific work”; The Times state that Grid Iron “manipulate a living environment to produce theatre that effortlessly breathes straight from the heart”.

The Scotsman described Those Eyes, That Mouth as 'as rich and completely satisfying an 80 minutes as you are ever likely to experience'.

Grid Iron in the Middle East

In Autumn 2004, with the support of the British Council, Grid Iron spent three weeks working in the Middle East.  This fantastic opportunity followed theatre director Ben Harrison’s meetings at the Strategic Meeting of European and Arab Theatremakers in Alexandria and the 10th Amman Festival of Arab Theatre.

Ben was struck by the level of experimentation within the independent theatre sector in the Arab region.  However, he was made aware of the scarcity of opportunity and support for artists in the area, both from national governments and international organisations.   The distinct lack of performance space due to closure of theatre buildings or them having simply never existed, has driven artists to find new ways of working.  For Grid Iron, producing in Britain, site-specific production is a stylistic choice.  In the Middle East, it seems that it is very nearly the only option left.

Ben introduced the work of Grid Iron to arts practitioners of Al-mawsam, an experimental arts programme in Beirut, and of Takween Theatre & Arts workshop in Amman. Following this, the plan was born to bring Grid Iron out to Lebanon and Jordan to work with young local practitioners.  The aim was to show them how Grid Iron go about creating their site-specific work.

The Grid Iron team spent four days in Beirut.  Director Ben Harrison conducted a workshop in a disused underground cinema complex and a derelict hotel sitting above it.  The workshop, Listening to the Space, was designed to introduce actors to the many ways a building can inform the physical way we work within it, but also the subject matter of the work created. 

In Amman, the team worked for two weeks with Takween on the creation of a new piece of site-specific theatre.  Following interviews with a number of young cancer patients in the King Hussein Cancer Centre in Amman, Takween director Samar Dudin created a heart-rending and inspiring script.  What was truly unique was the fact that the production was to take place in the actual working hospital environment where these patients were being treated. 

In just two weeks a draft script was taken to performance level.  The result, a beautiful, remarkably professional and extremely moving show called, Naw Nader Men Al Houb, (A Rare Kind of Love), was the first piece of site-specific theatre ever produced in Jordan.

Grid Iron hope to return to Beirut for three weeks in Autumn 2005 with Those Eyes, That Mouth and, while there, create a brand new show with a specially formed group of practitioners from a number of countries of the Near East and North Africa.

Did you know? You can find out about other international initiatives, supported by the Scottish Arts Council, by visiting the International section of the website.