Gecko’s newest production, Kin, is a provocative story of desperation and compassion, inspired by the epic journey from Yemen to Palestine that Artistic Director Amit Lahav’s grandmother Leah made with her family in 1932 to escape persecution.
At a time when the re-birth of community and acceptance seem vital to our survival, Gecko’s international devising performers bring their own experiences of migration, racism, empathy, and home to this poetically intoxicating performance.
See what Amit had to say about Gecko’s work and Kin below.
For someone who has never seen Gecko’s work, how would you describe what the audience will see?
When you come and see a Gecko show, you sort of fall into a dream – or a nightmare, depending on your point of view! Each moment is crafted very
carefully so you never know what’s going to happen next; there are always tricks and things will emerge from unexpected places.
The shows are both a reflection, and a comment, on life, which can sometimes be a dark place. All the different elements are there to take the audience to another dimension, and as an invitation to re-imagine the world.
How would you define physical theatre?
Physical theatre usually involves more of a focus on movement, imagery and diversity in performance styles. We use very little text to make our work but the show is ‘written’ and ‘storyboarded’ like any other piece. For me, the main language for the audience is not words.
Movement comes from the same place as language – both are emotional vehicles of communication by which the audiences understand the
storyline. This is why I love working with an international ensemble of performers who can use their own languages in all of Gecko’s shows – it is movement and emotion that tell the story.
“It is movement and emotion that tell the story”
What is Gecko’s trademark style of performance?
We perform very physical, epic pieces that highlight the complexity of human nature in modern life. I have now spent over twenty years making shows and developing Gecko’s style of physicality. It’s a style that’s both athletic and emotionally honest. We use breath as the anchor for exploring
all movement and emotion.
“We perform very physical, epic pieces that highlight the complexity of human nature in modern life”
here do you get your inspiration?
Inspiration for creating work is all around us. It’s in our personal lives, in the news, politics, and in the relationships that we have with our friends, families and colleagues. In 2017, I went to Israel and had a conversation with my grandmother about the walk that she embarked upon in the 30s from the North to the South of Yemen to get on a ship to Palestine. That conversation provoked in me questions about all of the migration stories that make up who I am.
Human beings have always migrated – we all have migration stories whether we’re aware of them or whether they’re more distant, and I think that excites me because it encourages a profoundly positive, celebratory voyage towards empathy. This is what I wanted to explore through the creation of Kin.
What can the audience expect from Kin?
Generally speaking, without predicting what an audience will experience, Kin is going to be very beautiful. The world that we’ve created is a beguiling and delicious sensory assault, in the best possible way. I think it’s going to be moving and personally complex for some people to watch, though I also hope that it will fill people with a real desire for empathic connection.
