Symoné is an alternative circus and performance artist based in Folkestone, U.K from Washington D.C. They are a Guinness World Record holder and always have something new up their sleeve to create a sensation. Their latest project - UTOPIAN - reflects on manipulation, pseudo-spirituality, parties, and hierarchy. Symoné spoke to Run Riot to reveal the history behind the show and give a little taste of what audiences can expect… 

Back in 2019, I wrote an article about my production, UTOPIAN (t&c’s apply) here during its early scratch days of performance. 

Looking back at that article I don’t think I was completely honest with what UTOPIAN was, only what I wanted it to be. 

Looking back, I realize how immense the show and myself as an artist have grown.  

UTOPIAN is a performance art alt-circus gender-fuck experience I’ve been working on for a few years now. I started creating it mainly to cathartically process some personal experiences around power abuse. If I were to describe what UTOPIAN is, I would describe it as an experience, rather than a show, where two friends have created this queer utopian party and invite new guests (audiences) into their community.  

I like to think that I’m taking audiences down the rabbit hole with me reflecting on manipulation, pseudo-spirituality, parties, and hierarchy without necessarily saying it in an autobiographical manner. Without giving too much away, I wanted to talk a little bit about my process of making UTOPIAN since 2019 and what audiences can expect, without spoiling the experience. 

One of the first great tools I learned from my dramaturg, Lou Robbin, was to make a show like you would cook a good meal. We seperated the aspects of what the show’s ingredients were on a piece of paper. Sound, music, volume, mood, characters, lighting, skills and how are they used, etc. We made this show thoughtfully and slowly, with plenty of time to marinade with breaks, so when we returned to it we might know what would need development, what we liked, and what wasn’t working. 

I found long breaks beneficial and realized how, as an artist, valuing the process of making is underrated. Particularly when a show is so personal, it was needed. I think as an artist the ‘how you want to say what you’re feeling or thinking’ can be one of the hardest things to work out. So, when I was taking a long break away from UTOPIAN, I’d come back more confidently like, “I’m not going to do this, we need to change this song, this scene is missing something”. 

Apart from marinating, we integrated a lot of play in the creation process. Putting on pop music and dancing in the rehearsal space, watching fun films that related to the show, like Mean Girls, and writing the lip-sync script while laughing and taking the piss out of the lines. 

If you watch UTOPIAN, I welcome you to let your mind wander and pay attention to whatever aspects of the experience your mind might want to wander towards. Whether it be the mood, music, skills, sexual expression, humor, or character narrative. I would also welcome you to contemplate throughout the show, “why do people abuse power roles?” as each scene we’re discussing this and answering this question with the personal, community, and larger picture of human behavior considered. 

My own personal connection to this show, as written in the description, does stem through my experiences within various spiritual communities, some of which I would describe as pseudo, and my experiences within the American rave and LGBTQIA+ party scenes. This is why I intentiaonlly used these communities and party scenes as the paradigm for UTOPIAN as this queer party-cult like “paradise” where sex, partying, and freedom of expression exist as it’s core beliefs between the two leaders. Right down to the details of the custom made fabric on my costume, covered graffiti mushrooms and peace signs emulating the rave posters I was once enamored by.  

Circus skills, sexual moments for your voyeristic pleasures, and awkward humor; I like to think that these are what make the show enjoyable to perform and watch. The high heel rollerskates and custom made aerial cage add a unique element I am very proud of as a spectacle. However [and only read the rest of this paragraph if you like to hear a slight spoiler],  I added these aspects in the show not just as a stylistic choice, but to distract a little bit from the bigger picture. They’re not shown subliminally, they’re repetitively appearing in the show in plain sight with the intention to potentially distract audiences from what is being said in that particular moment. So, maybe you can understand what I mean when I refer to taking audiences down the rabbit hole! 

As mentioned, the American rave, Burning Man, and LGBTQIA+ party scenes are core to the references in UTOPIAN. Right down to UTOPIAN’s slogan, PLUR (peace, love, unity, respect), comes from the American rave scene and is often used as a handshake greeting in these communities. I’ve found it so humorous hearing audiences repeat PLUR and I can hear that they understand the irony of it too. These rave communities often would receite this slogan, while inbetween the ecstasy and drum and bass there was gang violence, sexual abuse, and drug abuse that existed between these same people. PLUR is no different than what politicians, large corporations, and even smaller communities do. I used to say that going into these communties I romanticized what they were, it felt like “going home” every time I went to a party. After time, I felt these “utopias” were doing nothing more than performing escapism, or as I described it “spraying perfume on shit”. 

Before, I just wanted to make a show to cathartically process my experiences. Now, it feels like I’ve given life to UTOPIAN and forgotten about this whole new stage of performing it publicly. I’ve performed it 5 times; at Latitude Festival, Derby Theatre, Tramway, ARC Stockton and The Lowry and it’s surreal to be in this place of being done with making it. I never felt rushed to perform it and never cared for 5 star reviews or big international tours. My goal has always been to process my experiences cathartically and then to just share these important topics to audiences to reflect with me. That was it. I feel like those simple goals have already been achieved. I’m very proud of what everyone involved has done to create UTOPIAN (t&c’s apply). 

To find out more about UTOPIAN, please head here.