Interview: Forging Connections and Community at the Pub

Dance is an extraordinary vehicle. It can create relationships between people and articulate emotional understanding like no other form of performance. Situate your show in the local pub and you have a splendidly convivial setting for a dynamic discussion about community and compassion. With this philosophy in mind, this spring Rhiannon Faith Company tour their acclaimed and Olivier-nominated dance theatre production Lay Down Your Burdens to venues across England. We were delighted to have our own chat with performer Donald Hutera to find out the craic.

Hi Donald. Thanks so much for talking with us about Lay Down Your Burdens. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration for this show and the Bob Dylan connection?

A key inspirations for Rhiannon’s work is her great care for people, both the ones she works with on productions but also in wider society. This show was partly prompted by her concern for a lonely, isolated neighbour during lockdown. Dylan’s song ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’, including the lyrics “Lay down a song you strum / And rest yourself ‘neath the strength of strings”, fed into her thinking. Where best to set a performance that might address – in a fun, sometimes rowdy but also sensitive way – issues about disconnection, regret, abandonment, resilience and hope but in your local watering-hole? As an insider in the pub world we create for audiences, I’m so pleased with what we’ve managed to come up with. I think the show is an involving, engaging and challenging experience. 

What musical content can we look forward to in the production then?

Burdens is a big, ambitious piece of dance-theatre that balances movement and speech pinned to the characters who assemble in the pub: a handful of regulars plus a catalytic stranger – that’s my role. The pub’s wonderful landlady is the anchoring matriarchal presence presiding over us all. There are two musicians onstage with us the whole time, helping to create an environment that swings between the liveliness, tension and tenderness the script demands. Their support is essential. And nothing beats live music! 

Can you talk about how audiences are engaged with the show and the wraparound workshops you’re hosting?

The show is participatory but only to a degree that individuals might want. In other words, nobody’s forced to do anything or made to feel embarrassed. Instead, it’s about inviting punters into a specially-created pub space where they can have a jig or a sing-along but also offer up their thoughts and feelings. The workshops will happen the night before the first performance at each venue, starting at 6pm and lasting 90 minutes. The idea is to introduce audiences to the show’s themes, characters and some of the company’s creative process. 

The performers are described as ‘intergenerational’. Why is this important, and what does it mean for you?

Well, I’m 68 years young and I never imagined that I’d be having such rich performing opportunities at this stage of my life. This is the fifth project of Rhiannon’s of which I’ve been a part, and each has been a privilege. Until this particular show it’s been me and other cast members less than half my age. I need to be fit and alert to keep up with the kids! But seriously, in daily life we tend to encounter people of all ages, abilities and so on. It’s vital to see that range of humanity in the spotlight.

So, you’ve performed with Rhiannon Faith Company before – what is it you enjoy about their work that made you want to come back?

For starters, they keep inviting me back! And I so believe in the work. Rhiannon welcomes performers who are willing to invest themselves in her vision of who people are – warts, vulnerabilities and all – and the kinder, more compassionate society we can create together. The blend of movement and text is also hugely rewarding. Plus, I feel really held by this company – how it’s run and the ethos behind it. I’m blessed. 

And finally, what makes this a great show for audiences at this moment in time?

The world seems pretty crazy right now – some hideously poor leadership, clashing ideologies, mass discontent about rights and survival. Of course no single piece of art can solve all of that, but each one can do its bit to remind us of our capacity for pleasure, pain and the possibility of recovery, growth and transformation. Maybe that’s a lot to load onto one theatrical entertainment, but for me that’s what underpins Burdens. But beyond that, this show provides a helluva good night out! 

Thanks very much to Donald for taking time out of rehearsals to fill us in on this amazing production.

Lay Down Your Burdens is touring from Thursday 6 March to Wednesday 14 May.