Carl Grose Performer, Writer

Quotes

"I try to write the bits that come easily first, like the best bits: the bits that feel like they're already almost there. I'll tackle the bits that I can already see. That's quite a good way of playing around with what the story is. You think, “let's try this bit in the middle, and let's try the ending, and then let's try this other idea”. Then you have five minutes of material to start you off."

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In terms of a process for the baby puppets in Dead Dog in a Suitcase was that Sarah and Lyndie (Wright) whipped up some prototypes which were brilliant, and we just spent an afternoon playing with them. That informed so much of the actual writing and what the babies did and how they spoke and how they sang. That's always a really fun thing to do, before rehearsals even begin: just have some prototypes and play.

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For me, there's an interesting feedback loop with Kneehigh. I watched Kneehigh and was influenced by Kneehigh and then wrote my own stuff. Then there's quite possibly my writing influence on Kneehigh. Working with Mike on Dead Dog in a Suitcase, we didn't really discuss the show on a deeper level very often. We spoke more about Breaking Bad, and other things we were watching, reading, stumbling across, everyday inspirations. I’m writing for people I know, we’ve explored stuff together before so there’s a sort of shorthand.

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One of the things I’m most pleased about with our show is that I think we’ve done the original play really well. Alfred Jarry was our spiritual guide. His ground-breaking and highly controversial notions of theatre in his lifetime are absolutely how we think about making theatre with Kneehigh. He hated “realistic” painted backdrops – tropes of the naturalistic style at the time. When he wrote that Ubu enters riding a horse, he says either come in on a REAL horse or, even better, a cardboard one. Cardboard became our lead aesthetic for this show. Throwaway. Hand-made. Cheap. Punky. So on a level, I feel we’ve collaborated well with him and hopefully done his work justice. I hope there’s something therapeutic about seeing this show. Singing together in protest. Laughing at the buffoon. Weeping for the world. The play is also mad. Absurd. Characters burst into Britney Spears songs. They have strange dreams. There’s a bear!

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