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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Article |
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Theatre index>
Tim Miller brings Us
to Us.
Californian performance artist Tim Miller has courted many a heated
political issue in his lifetime, but with his latest show, Us,
it is the intimate problem of belonging that is central. As an artist
whose international career has seen him perform live 200 times a year,
roots can easily become blurred. With political activism having always informed Miller’s work, it
is now the struggle that his Australian-Scottish partner Alistair faces
in getting a visa - and the probability that the couple will be forced
to emigrate to the UK in the near future - that has led him to take to
the stage again. Us focuses on Miller’s response to their impending
exile, and the contradictions America poses, as a culture ingrained with
positive values, yet intolerant of gay and lesbian couples peacefully
expressing love. However, rather than using his performance to wage an
unhindered tirade against the government, Miller mischievously plays with
the debate. I interviewed him just as he arrived in Glasgow to perform
his show in Glasgay! My commentary is in italics. Tim Miller - I was thinking about me and Alistair having to leave. And, as I began working on the show, I just started to ask, ‘What am I going to do with my 812 Broadway cast albums if we do have to go?!’ That’s where it started. The musical is this peculiarly American idiom, and is the most popular performance form. People go to more musicals in America than sporting events, and I had never acknowledged that popularity in my own work before. The musical is also a tool Miller can dissect, helping him to communicate his own political message: TM Many of the American musicals are social texts – The Sound Of Music teaches us to leave organised religion, get laid and fight fascism, through festive song and dance. Well, that’s how I see it! There is no way you can watch Fiddler On The Roof right now, and not think that it is about gay marriage. It is completely about the expansion of that definition, and about a wider, more human embrace of what love is. Musicals are interesting to me because they’re to do with people changing their lives and raising their voices, literally. And, obviously, I am mining it for the ways in which a little gay kid claims agency. The musical also provides a backdrop for Miller’s inimitably playful performance style: TM I was drawn to the musicals because they’re so funny and theatrical. There’s a really good fun, joyous, energy to the show. Play and seduction, dynamics and humour are very strong in my work. For me, it’s all about being physically present. In this increasingly electronic and cyber age, I think that’s very important. I don’t think people are ever not going to want to be around each other. The show’s isolation of American culture should carry particular meaning at a time in which that country’s politics are all-pervasive. For Miller, the issue of alienation will ring true not just for those subject to sexual oppression: TM Americans are generally a progressive people. The 49% who did not vote for Bush are pretty freaked out and alienated. So there’s an internal exile too. Doing this piece right after the hideous election carries a lot of resonance. Despite Tim and Alistair's possible need to relocate, Tim's roots clearly play a huge role in his personal and professional life: TM My work is so much about being an American, and about this complicated relationship to both the positive and the incredibly negative parts of that country. It’s a love/hate thing. So, even if we have to emigrate, I would still be an American artist, still be an American. Miller is enthusiastic about performing in Glasgow. While it is a relief to be away from America right now, it is also something of a homecoming for him: TM Alistair and I lived together
for the first time when I performed here once before, and his father is
from the Gorbals. So performances in Glasgow are very moving for me –
it’s a charged psychic emotional and family space. And I’m so
sentimental! I also have a long history with Glasgay!. This festival is
important - it has done something to create a visible Scottish queer.
For the little gay kid in Aberdeen, this season is going to carry far
more meaning than something happening in London or Manchester. It is claiming
a particular Scottish identity. Theatre Editor, Thelma
Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com
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