Little Bulb theatre company exploded at 2008 Edinburgh Fringe, when Crocosmia, a piece originally conjured up during their time at the University of Kent, picked up a healthy collection of awards and launched what has been a steady climb up the ladder of the British theatre world. The company is now widely known and appreciated for delicate, small scale work, that’s almost guaranteed to come with a heavy dose of music integrated into it.

Their new piece, Orpheus, that opens at the BAC on 16th April, is a step in a slightly different direction for the company, as they abandon intimacy to occupy the venue’s Grand Hall instead. Music is still very much on the menu: the myth of Orpheus is intertwined with the biography of the legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. The show is set in the allure of 1930’s Paris and sees the company take on the role of a jazz ensemble. Little Bulb’s Artistic Director Alex Scott takes us through the intricacies of authoring a story told since ancient times and the challenges of portraying ‘one of the greatest guitar players of all time’.

Run-Riot: What attracted you to the story of Orpheus? Is there a link in the fact that music is such an integral part of Little Bulb’s work?

Alex Scott: We were on the lookout for a story to adapt. David Jubb (Artistic Director at Battersea Arts Centre) was encouraging us to do a big story – either generated by us or an adaptation. We thought it would be interesting to adapt a story as this was something we hadn’t done before. When we thought of Orpheus it just seemed so relevant. It’s all about music and why music has such a hold on people. We are fascinated by the different styles and types of music and the effect music can have. There are lots of different effects of music in the story of Orpheus, both in the natural world and unnatural world. Orpheus charms the divinities of the underworld in order to try and reverse tragedy. Orpheus is also a big melodramatic story and they wanted something big and dramatic, but the music was always very important. 

Run-Riot: What made you decide to put Django Reinhardt and Orpheus in the same piece? Why not just one and not the other - how do the two stories complement each other?  Do you think that Orpheus gives Django’s(tragic) life a shade of universality?

Alex Scott: I have personally been interested in Django’s music for many years and Dom who plays Django/Orpheus is also massive fan. The company often played a couple of his songs at gigs – so we all knew the music and really liked it. We discussed how fun it would be to do a Django biopic, but at that point we weren’t actually serious about doing it, although Dom is a really good guitar player and so we knew he’d be good for the part. 

It was only in searching for a story and coming across Orpheus that we first linked the two ambitions. As soon as we put them together all the detail emerged out of the pairing - Django is a real Orphic figure because of the history which surrounds his life. He played the guitar with a human voice and gave such meaning to everything he played. 

There is only a small amount of footage of him and very few recordings of his voice. He is a mysterious figure. He didn’t even write much - there are just these few recordings and some amazing anecdotes about him. 

The character of Orpheus in Ovid’s text is able to change what’s around him through music, which is what Django did in many ways. We can also draw on the fallibility of Django. He was unfaithful to his wife and often cruel to his band members, but he also had an incredibly kind and generous spirit. He’s a complex and very interesting character to explore. However, this show isn’t biopic we have been very much inspired by Django and his life, but the content of the show is not factual. 

In answer to the last part of your question, I don’t think that Django did have a tragic life – I think he had an excellent life. The only tragedy was in his earlier life, when he lost his fingers and he overcame this. 

Run-Riot: Orpheus is a perpetual source of inspiration; in literature alone everyone from Ovid to Neil Gaiman felt compelled to offer their rendition. Did any one of these have a special impact on your piece, or did you set out to create your own take on the myth?   

Alex Scott: There are some amazing adaptations out there including Neil Gaiman’s. We also found a very interesting album of songs about Orpheus by Anaïs Mitchell and we studied the Operas. We familiarised ourselves with many adaptations, but didn’t draw on anyone in particular. Pairing Django’s life with the story of Orpheus determined our music choices. The fact that we were making a show within a show, set in a specific era (1930s Paris) also had a big influence on the form and style. There are many elements borrowed from that era rather than a specific adaptation. The piece in quite experimental - it’s a mixture of modern (1930s) and classical (gods). Orpheus is timeless, but also seems to exist in a 1930s France. We didn’t discover a version of the myth set in the 1930s, so we therefore didn’t have anything to draw on directly. Most of our inspiration came from Ovid’s text – the repetition of metamorphosis and change and the use of beautiful language. Making a show within a show leads to some cheesy and melodramatic moments and we like the naivety of that. Having that a double image is one of the most exciting things in theatre – it can be funny and sad at same time and I think this is very interesting. 

Run-Riot: The space of Battersea Arts Centre’s Grand Hall is the definition of atmospheric, and seems to be an excellent fit with the tone and the époque of your Orpheus. How did the space help evolve the piece?

Alex Scott: We didn’t know where the piece would go and we had a lot of freedom. We developed it through Scratch – all over the building. (Scratch is a method used by Battersea Arts Centre to develop new work by sharing it with audiences at an early stage in order to try out new ideas get feedback.) One early Scratch performance was in Grand Hall. We had sort of written off the room as too big, but there was something that resonated with the piece as a show within show which is inviting people to go back in time. The building really helps with this – the show can respond to the space. The Grand Hall is rarely used for performances. It is limiting and challenging to use such a classic performance space – it’s not like a modern performance space and this has had a massive influence on how the show has developed.

Run-Riot: Orpheus is Little Bulb’s first mid-scale piece. What has the transition from smaller performances been like? Were there any new challenges to overcome?

Alex Scott: The biggest challenge was organizational. There are so many people with so many jobs to do for a show of this scale. Luckily we have been helped through the process by Farham Maltings (the company’s producers) and Battersea Arts Centre. Now the wider team is assembled, the various people doing different jobs are making everything come together. This is something we weren’t used to - we used to just do everything ourselves. It’s very exciting to see so many people from different specialisms all working together.

Run-Riot: Orpheus sees the company take stage as a jazz band. How much effort went into making sure this ensemble was authentic, and how did you tackle the immense challenge of depicting Django Reinhardt, complete with a guitar?  

Alex Scott: We really started with music and songs – it was our way in. It was a big challenge – the music was technically difficult, especially the jazz improvisation. Technical command of the music was difficult in the early stages. But we were learning in a fun and supportive environment and we were willing each other on. Some of us weren’t familiar with our instruments, but we built up repertoire and performed live and it was through live performance that we built up our confidence. Dom has had a very specific journey embodying Django, in a way the rest of us haven’t. It has been challenging for him. When you really admire someone, it’s very hard to think ‘I am going to play that person who reinvented a genre of music almost single handedly.’ Dom has always been good at communicating to the audience through music and this is the key thing. Obviously there are going to be discrepancies between our playing and those we are trying to emulate, but we are using theatre skills to fill in gap and have tried really hard to fill any technical gaps.

Run-Riot: Can you tell us more about your devising process? At which point do you get to making new music: is this the starting point, or developed with the other elements of the performance? 

Alex Scott: Music tends to be a starting point, but that’s not the case with every show. The process revolves around creating a world and we invest a lot of time in this. In this production we did work a lot on the music, but also researched the era so that we could immerse ourselves in it. Over time we create a universe which we can then put material in. Once we have created the world, we can make work quite quickly. It is obvious if it’s right or not as you can see if it fits in that world. Our material tends to have an element of developing in real time – we don’t tend to rehearse the last scene until later on – building narrative slowly over the rehearsal process. The show does tend to mirror our rehearsal process. Interestingly this show turned out to be a show about a company putting on a show that was big in scale and requires them to using things they might not technically be able to deal with. It shows how much we are responding to what is around us and what we are going through.

Run-Riot: Your relationship with the BAC stretches back to the early days of Little Bulb. What has the backing of such a major venue - in terms of the support and the resources available- meant for the company?

Alex Scott: It has been an incredible support to always have somewhere that we could come and rehearse and have outlet to perform since Battersea Arts Centre spotted that first show. Resources are really important, but building the confidence of a young company is also integral. Knowing that people are interested in your process and what you are making and that there is an outlet for it is really important. If you don’t have that it’s very hard. BAC are so generous with their space – in making this show they basically said, ‘here’s the whole building.’ There was never any pressure to do big show, but it was a great vote of confidence. Developing material through Scratch also helps you to engage and respond to the audience and see their input at an early stage – it’s a good system for generating work.

Run-Riot: Little Bulb came to in Kent University, but emerged from the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe - you’re one of those rare but symbolic Fringe success stories. What’s your 2 cents for companies attempting the same? How do you make the best out of Edinburgh?

Alex Scott: There are lots of different experiences you could have. It’s a very particular place. I have been about 10 times and Little Bulb have been 4 times as a company. I’d say make sure you are going to the right reasons. It’s perfectly acceptable to go just for the adventure – you don’t have to be spotted and often nothing will happen, so you need to be ready for that. Going with your own work, something you are proud of, is a very good reason to go. Lots of people go with work they have slaved over for a long time. Don’t be in a bubble of your own show though - see other things - see what you like and don’t like. It’s a good learning process. You can be quite blinkered working on show. It’s good to be able to see things differently and to learn new things about your work. So go for the right reason and know what you are letting yourselves in for.

Run-Riot: You’ve already started developing your next piece, Squally Showers, which you’ll be taking to Edinburgh this year. What can we expect? 

Alex Scott: Squally Showers will be something very different. It’s a piece exploring music and dance and dance theatre conventions. There is no live music dimension. We are all very interested in movement and the place that allows you to go to, but it hasn’t been the full focus of our work. Operation Greenfield was the most choreographed so far. Movement can help demonstrate what is going on beneath a character. This shoe is out of our comfort zone. We don’t know how it will go – it’s experimental, it’s an adventure and we are excited to see what it will be. We have done a lot of research so far, but we have not started devising – we have been too busy with Orpheus!

Orpheus

16 April - 11 May 

BAC

Tickets and info: BAC