Lloyd Newson and Intertextuality Essay

1986 dictum the formation of the physical theatre company known as DV8 Physical Theatre which since its inception until sit day has been led by Lloyd Newson (www. dv8. co. uk) . Based in the United Kingdom this company has produced a multitude of pitchs which have toured internationally and have received awards , they also add to their achieve ments four award-winning icons for television (www. dv8. co. uk) .In this essay I will discuss the intertextuality that can be seen in Dv8 original scene The at rest(predicate) Dreams of written language men conceived and directed by Lloyd Newson and how Newson approached the piece . Intertextuality can be defined as the hard interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text(Wall, 200797). Or the ways in which the comp onents of a performance text bewitch heart on the basis of their relationship with other texts(Jordan , 1992 257).I this case this will be the way in which t he piece makes reference to other material other than what the director and performers thoughts ar about Nilsen. utterly Dreams of written language Men is loosely based on Brian Masters book Killing for Company which is the yarn of Dennis Nilsen a serial killer who lured his victims (all young men ) back to his homes in Cricklewood and Muswell Hill and killed them by chopping their bodies into comminuted pieces and stuffing them down the drain (http//www. ailymail. co. uk). Newson wantd to challenge his audience by taking risks in his pieces not only physical risks scarce risks in his approach and within the piece itself draw form factual life -the sociological and psychological- for many dance companies it seem risk beneficial means nothing is risked in terms of content and approach ( Lloyd www. dv8. co. uk) .Newson stresses that as a company they only work on pieces that are motivated and driven by how the central idea affects them, they talk about their own personal exp eriences before they start to rehearse and set actual choreography, the process of coming up with the final piece is a collaborative process by sharing the process the final work become collaborative and the performers get credited accordingly (www. dv8. co. uk) . The film also draws into homosexuality, at the time homosexuality was still something that people didnt talk about widely it was all done behind closed doors .In Dead Dreams of black and white Men Newson explores the interwoven notions of loneliness, desire and trust (www. dv8. co. uk) . As mentioned earlier at the time of the film homosexuality was seen as somewhat taboo Newson draws on societies views and explores if what led Nilsen to his disturbing actions could have been the mere fact that there were already so many negative views push through on homosexuality he was lonely in need of company -killing for company- societal homophobia often results in tragic consequences (www. dv8. co. uk) .The film is in black and exsanguine this in itself could be seen as an intertext , a photographer by the name of Robert Mapplethorpe famous for his photo called piece of music in Polyester Suit all his pictures are in black and white most of his work could be described as homoerotic, so this can be seen as intertext from the start the films exploration of homosexuality . Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men starts mop up at a bar or club just alike(p) where Dennis would have picked his victim at this point of the film there is pop music (popular gay civilization ) playacting , the music used as an intertext , movement at this time is not to the music but influenced by the music .The body language of the performer is that of a hunter seeking its prey (victim) . thence as the piece progresses the music moves from pop to a more slower tonal sound . This is when the piece moves to a more intimate space into Denniss home-. Looking at the design and setting passim the piece we can see that there are many deep i ntertexts , the use of the sculptures being one , sculptures of nude men close as an objectification of men as if to say this is how men should look like .The costumes the white underwear not something you would have people where as their full costume on branch , and the dull colored shirts and pants worn by the other characters . There are a a couple of(prenominal) scenes don in the lavatory where we see visible(a) pipes relating to the drains where Denniss victims body parts were found , this could be an intertext to point out that the body parts in the drain were the reason that Dennis was caught so have the pipes visible in that way shows his one mistake that lead to his arrest.Also Newson uses the bathroom which is a secret place where some of the action takes place this also draws to the gay culture -secretive behind closed doors- . In the film most of the action is not actual dance its all realism its realistic chance(a) moves and gestures realist dance can be said to co mmunicate to audiences ,to attempt to reveal the truths of our world(Wall, 200791).In the bathroom scenes there is no dancing there is an exploration of weight and gestures no choreographed movement , the two men also exchange underwear this switching of something personal represents ntimacy (sexual acts) between them . The piece has a strong intertext to the womb in the bath the man lies in a fetal position there is also pissing and at some point he is immersed in it just like in the womb . The bathtub also being where Dennis drowned his victims or mutilated them . The picture of the man in fetal position in the water can be seen as both the beginning (fetus in womb) and the end (drowned by Dennis). divergence back to the spacial design we see that besides the visible pipes the roof is not closed off -no ceiling- you can see the planks , when the performer is up on the roof and moving along the planks in an almost sneaky way this draws to secrecy again it also brings some Notre dame themes of people in the rafters pussyfoot around , bringing us back to the secrecy . Some have argued that in Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men Lloyd Newson portrays homosexuality in a bad way -as dirty and promiscuous- , they say that with this single film he has undone all the hard work done by gay activist in the past to have homosexuality accepted by society.In conclusion Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men is a powerful film digging deep into the action of a serial killer , playing on the intertextual meanings that we as the audience leave with questions about sometimes as viewers we consciously live where the style and ways of using style come from and at other times the origin just provides an unconsciously sensed undercurrent (Bazerman, 20011). Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men also shows that physical theatre is exposed of taking on complex issues without simplifying the subject (www. dv8. co. uk).