Lloyd Newson and Intertextuality Essay

1986 saw the formation of the physical theatre company cognise as DV8 Physical Theatre which since its inception until present day has been direct by Lloyd Newson (www. dv8. co. uk) . Based in the United Kingdom this company has produced a lot of service domains which have toured internation bothy and have received awards , they as well score to their achievework forcets four award-winning picture palaces for television (www. dv8. co. uk) .In this essay I willing discuss the inter text editionuality that tail assembly be get togethern in Dv8 original film The at peace(predicate) Dreams of coloured workforce conceived and directed by Lloyd Newson and how Newson approached the piece . Intertextuality can be defined as the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or description of the text(Wall, 200797). Or the ways in which the components of a performance text nurture meaning on the basis of their relationship with other text s(Jordan , 1992 257).I this case this will be the way in which the piece makes quote to other material other than what the director and performers thoughts are about Nilsen. wild Dreams of written language Men is loosely based on Brian Masters book Killing for Company which is the story of Dennis Nilsen a serial slayer who lured his victims (all young men ) back to his homes in Cricklewood and Muswell Hill and kil conduct them by chopping their bodies into trivial pieces and stuffing them down the drain (http//www. ailymail. co. uk). Newson give cared to challenge his audience by taking risks in his pieces not only physical risks but risks in his approach and within the piece itself draw form real life story -the sociological and psychological- for many dance companies it seem risk just int lay off 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 determined by how the central idea affects them, they talk about their own personalized experiences before they start to rehearse and set actual choreography, the process of approach shot 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 cartridge clip homosexuality was still fewthing that commonwealth didnt talk about widely it was all done behind closed doors .In cold Dreams of Monochrome 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 at that place were already so many negative views place on homosexuality he was unfrequented in need of company -killing for company- societal homophobia often results in tragic consequences (www. dv8. co. uk) .The film is in black and fresh this in itself could be seen as an intertext , a photographer by the name of Robert Mapplethorpe famous for his photo called humankind in Polyester Suit all his pictures are in black and white about 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 off at a bar or familiarity just like where Dennis would have picked his victim at this point of the film there is pop medication (popular gay culture ) playing , the medicinal drug used as an intertext , movement at this time is not to the harmony but influenced by the music .The frame language of the performer is that of a hunter seeking its prey (victim) . Then 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 De nniss home-. Looking at the design and setting throughout the piece we can see that there are many fatheaded intertexts , the use of the sculptures being one , sculptures of nude painting men almost 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 stage , and the dull coloured shirts and pants worn by the other characters . There are a few scenes don in the outhouse where we see indubitable 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 ac tual dance its all realism its realistic everyday moves and gestures realist dance can be said to go along 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 2 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 bathtub the man lies in a fetal position there is also weewee 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 body of water can be seen as both the beginning (fetus in womb) and the end (drowned by Dennis).Going back to the spacial design we see that in any case the visible pipes the roof is not closed off -no ceiling- you can see the planks , when the performer is up on the roof a nd 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 sneaking 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 gloomy and promiscuous- , they say that with this single film he has undone all the stark work done by gay activist in the sometime(prenominal) 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 recognize 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 confident of taking on complex issues with out simplifying the subject (www. dv8. co. uk).