revew: Josh Coates – Rot

Josh Coates/

ROT/

Manchester Oxford Road Station/

22/01/15/

/arrive/

i meet josh before the show/ hes enlisted me to give him a hand/ he gives me a hi vis jacket/ im to lead the audience/ but for all other purposes im in the audience too/ hes told me as little as possible about the show/ still feel in a position to write a review/ this review//

the audience arrive at oxford road station/ in drabs/ in coats/ its bloody cold/ some noshows/ nevermind/ before the show josh emailed us all a playlist/ we plug ourselves in now/ we start it playing/ josh walks off/ we follow//

/walk/

we walk down oxford road/ a line of us/ after josh/ me at the front/ emma geraghty at the back/ also in hi vis/ we are all listening to joshs playlist/ joshs phone runs out of battery/ he stops a couple times/ checks my headphones for where were at/ the playlist is a punk mixtape/ i recognise touch me im sick/ no others/ not big on punk//

this is like group meditation/ or something/ crowd of us serenely walking after this man/ all hearing the same thing/ this is a shared experience/ were like theatre pilgrims/ bracketed with hi vis/ i much prefer this to waddling down aisles to a seat/ i think/ despite the cold/ im excited/ thats what this feeling is//

/watch/

we arrive at the car park/ outside contact/ josh rushes ahead/ he sets his stage in the corner/ led lights around a music stand with his script/ his bag on the floor next to him/ we cross the car park/ approaching/ weve done as we were told/ weve followed him/ his instructions/ were ready for some theatre//

rot is storytelling/ i knew this already/ but if josh hadnt told me i couldve guessed/ this feels communal/ after the walk/ we are all in a communal state of expectation/ so being told a story feels apt/ josh has been experimenting a lot with storytelling/ hes good at it//

the story is about two characters/ josh performs it from the music stand/ it is a reading/ an experiment/ but it is more than these/ testament to joshs skill as performer/ at creating an atmosphere of theatre/ at drawing us in/ not just listening to josh tell the story/ but experiencing it/ lots of communal themes/ in the plot and form/ josh brings in theatrical elements/ he makes us dance/ at times places the voice of attackers in the mouth of the audience/ these things force elements home/ things happen and people stand by/ josh smashes a watermelon/ which is a skull/ and we stand by/ things happen and people react/ things happen and people watch/ things happen and people move on/ more than once people walk through or past the car park/ pass by//

theres something simultaneously small and large about joshs tale of two outcasts/ mundane and dramatic/ read text and theatrical/ this has been an experiment/ a tale about personal problems/ about public cults/ unseen deaths/ passed by traumas//

/reflect/

we go to the pub after/ audience disperses/ joshs spell is broken/ we leave the car park/ this has been an experiment/ micro theatre/ a brief communal space/ a colonised corner of a car park/ by theatre/ i am filled with thoughts/ as much from the piece as the act of putting it there/ how unexpected/ how fitting/ how radical it is to occupy a space//