Review Of The Theatre Company 'D Animate'

The 21st Century world is rife with information, imagery. The distinction between what is real and what is simulated is blurred. Ideology, the set of values that consciously or unconsciously, are at the core of one’s expectations and actions has never then been more important in cementing ones world-view. Philosopher Louis Althusser in one thesis states that “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of the individuals to their real conditions of existence.” Ideology is not an accurate reflection of the real world but an illusion. It is not concrete, we are subjected to it but we also make our own. It could be argued that the theatre therefore, and theatre companies, should make it a responsibility to attempt a subversion of commonplace responses and make the well-known fresh and meaningful again.
For the theatre company ‘d’Animate’, formed in 2011 by Michael Rivers and Will Mytum from East 15 Acting School, the latter statement encompasses their approach to work by tackling classic texts and most recently, new writing of their own. They explicitly manipulate the binary

Their ideological claim of engaging with the cultural value in the texts proves too much for some as Sellars perceptively states of 21st century audiences: ‘…we’re a culture that’s all about the effects’ . Paradoxically, some spectators felt the need to over-analyse what was there. Lorna Irvine of ‘The List’ unites d’Animates take on Beckett with present politics: ‘d’Animate’s fresh approach to theatre proves that Beckett can still startle and captivate – and with the controversial bedroom tax looming large, his dark political motifs sadly remain pertinent.’ Though d’Animate are as much for seriousness as they are fun, their theatrical aims have become manipulated here and they have been forced a place in the political spectrum that is not necessarily in relationship with their