“it’s the choice of subject matter that makes Caligula and the Sea sink, rather than swim”
Caligula and the Sea is a devised project about one of the most controversial Roman Emperors. What we know of Caligula’s life mostly comes down to us from a couple of unreliable sources, the historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius. And it’s Suetonius who tells us the story of how Caligula allegedly went mad and declared war on Neptune, god of the sea. Caligula’s isolated upbringing on the island of Capri and the relationship he develops with Neptune, is the subject of Yuxuan Liu’s Caligula and the Sea. The Company gives us a condensed version of Caligula’s life, using actors, some puppetry, and a versatile blue gauze backdrop that doubles as the sea. The show is full of clever ways to miniaturize the vast settings that form the backdrop to this tragic tale.
In Caligula and the Sea, we first meet Caligula as a young boy, growing up under the eye of his paranoid uncle Emperor Tiberius. It’s a lonely life and Caligula’s only friend is Cassius Chaerea, who is everything Caligula is not. Cassius tries to turn Caligula into a soldier like himself but it’s clear that they are very different people. Nevertheless, they have a strong bond. They play games like reenacting the assassination of Julius Caesar. The sea, meanwhile, is busy throwing things out onto the shore, and for fun, Caligula starts to throw them back. Then the god Neptune arrives, and makes a deal with the young man. If Caligula will pay Neptune proper respect by destroying Rome’s aqueducts so that the water in them can flow to the sea, Neptune will make him Emperor. Predictably, everything goes downhill from that moment. And we’re not just talking about aqueducts. Yuxuan Liu’s production of Caligula and the Sea has a dreamlike quality to it, which is only appropriate, given the subject matter, and the way it is presented.
Caligula and the Sea’s greatest strength is its imaginative switchings between the world of the sea and the world on land. Both are brutal places, but the brutality is softened with by the use of puppets and props, rather than people. A small ship tosses on a stormy sea; the land is strewn with remnants of Roman pillars, which in turn double as containers for props when needed. There’s lots of ingenuity in the way the Company shifts scenes, from an exciting chariot race, to flying birds, using just three actors. But the actors struggle to fill the space in the aptly named Cavern at the VAULT Festival. Felix Ryder brings a ready sympathy to his portrayal of Chaerea but Noah Silverstone as Caligula is at sea in his role in more ways than one. Riko Nakazono makes graceful transitions between playing the god Neptune and a number of other roles, including that as puppeteer for a flying bird.
But ultimately, it’s the choice of subject matter that makes Caligula and the Sea sink, rather than swim. Perhaps this show’s chief weakness is that there are more puppets and special effects needed, and more puppeteers. Caligula and the Sea is a show with lofty aspirations, but in this version at least, has a way to go before it succeeds.
“Sitting in an entirely clothed audience, it’s initially bizarre to be gathered round four very comfortably naked people”
In the summer just gone there were most definitely days, when even the thinnest nighty clung to me, wet with sweat, that I thought how great it would be if society would just let loose and I could walk down the street naked. But on this particularly chilly February day, it’s incredibly impressive that the Body Love Sketch Club has convinced anyone to even take off their woolly hats, let alone their underwear.
Provided with a sheaf of paper, a pencil and some charcoal, the audience is invited to draw our hosts Rosy Pendlebaby and Ruby Rare, as well as Social Psychologist, Professor Keon West, and Artist, Lily Holder, as they chat about nudity within society and its benefits, all while posing naked.
Sitting in an entirely clothed audience, it’s initially bizarre to be gathered round four very comfortably naked people, but the act of drawing whilst listening eases the audience’s awkwardness, and soon it feels totally normal. Rather than trying uncomfortably to work out where to rest our gaze, we’re busy trying to work out proportions, concentrating on the curve of the pencil line rather than the curve of a buttock.
And so when, in the last ten minutes, the audience is invited to join them on stage, it’s unsurprising that there are too many volunteers. Why not? Why don’t we all just get naked? Except that it is still quite cold, so I think I’ll pass on this occasion.
Pendlebaby and Rare are clearly dab hands at creating a safe and fun space, racing their guests to get their kit off, and joking about getting cramp in long poses. Their first question for their guests and themselves: How are you feeling in your body today? “Great! I just had a pizza for lunch!”, Lily Holder announces. It’s lovely and comforting to see people naked and not trying; no-one is holding in their stomach or attempting to be especially sexy. They’re just themselves, but…naked.
Having researched extensively on the subject, Professor Keon West has some very interesting insights into the potential benefits of society allowing for a more liberated view of clothing. When asked what he thinks would best encourage a naked utopia, he suggests a universal basic income, because, he believes, if everyone had everything they needed, and a little extra, they would feel free to do what they really wanted: go Winnie the Pooh with a top and no bottoms, wear a big scarf and nothing else. No-one would care.
Regardless of whether you believe everyone should be naked all the time, or whether you just think it would be nice if everyone were more accepting of their own bodies, the Body Love Sketch Club provides a haven and plenty of food for thought, along with whatever masterpieces you created during the session. This is the only Naked Chat booked for the VAULT Festival, but Pendlebaby and Rare host regular online and in-person events if you fancy a doodle and a chat about nudity, and maybe getting naked yourself.
