Today we have a guest blog from the talented Lottie – a member of Sprung Advance PLUS…
This year the Physical Fellowship returned to the Belgrade Theatre. As the theme for 2023 was Freedom, Sprung Advance’s headlining piece was inspired by the life of war hero, Alan Turing. Among many other things, Turing was a mathematician and computer scientist, who worked hard to create the first modern computer, which led to the decoding of the Nazis Enigma code during World War II. Despite working so hard, fighting for his country during the war, Alan Turing was chemically castrated, beaten, and driven to take his own life because of his sexuality.
Making Enigma was an enlightening experience as it highlighted the freedom that we have today, to be who we are without being a criminal. The piece told the story of Turing’s life as Charlie and Robin, 2 school kids, were working their way out of a not so ordinary escape room. The two teens were eventually left to answer an extremely difficult question about themselves in order to escape. Being a part of the show has brought me closer to the entire group and strengthened our power as an ensemble.
It is always interesting creating a show, as we are given so much freedom to interpret scenes and create our own movement. Some scenes such as ‘now or never’, which included all the ‘wigs’ drawing focus to Turing’s pain and shadowing the movements that the Alan on stage made as he took his own life, were difficult to perform. During that scene it was crucial that everybody put 110% effort into their movement and conveyed their emotions through their bodies as everyone’s faces were covered by their wigs and glasses. Although the glasses and wigs added even more pressure to the scene, everybody knew it was important to push themselves as hard as they could because all of the energy out into the scene meant it became very powerful.
To me, Charlie’s speech at the end of the show is extremely important. She spoke about the need for a safe space and to be part of a community. Sprung has created its own community who are full of love and trust, and I can say without a doubt that the time I spend at Daimler on a Thursday are the best two hours of my week. Her words were inspired by things that Sprung members said about what identity and freedom mean to them. Since truly understanding those words for the first time, I always think of Sprung as my safe space.
Thank you to the brilliant Lottie for this guest blog! If you are interested in joining us at Sprung Youth then get in touch to book a FREE taster session this September. Even better, we have bursaries available, providing fully funded places for those who need.
Enigma Gallery:
Images by Andy Moore
