The Suitcase Royale

  

The Suitcase Royale is a Rag ‘n’ Bone band of three from Melbourne that has been creating and performing together since mid 2004. Their premier work Felix Listens to the World was presented as part of the 2005 Melbourne International Arts Festival and toured extensively in North America and Australia to great critical acclaim.

The collaborative creation of original works is the hallmark of The Suitcase Royale. Their self- styled form, ‘junkyard theatre’, employs multiple art forms and influences including dance, puppetry, slapstick, music, text and set design and construction. Incorporating filmic techniques, The Suitcase Royale aim to revive the aesthetic of classic cinema. The company’s work is underpinned by the ingenious use of found objects and the composition and performance of original music. It is an ensemble-based style of theatre making that approaches the work as a whole, with an eye to detail and an ambition to construct highly developed and complex performances that impart the simplest of tales. The trio try to approach each performance uniquely and believe in creating accessible theatre experiences for all, more akin to a live music set than a “fourth wall” theatre show.

The Suitcase Royale’s second work, Chronicles of a Sleepless Moon was commissioned for Next Wave Festival and premiered in March 2006 as part of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival. The show toured nationally and internationally performing in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, Pittsburgh USA, Edinburgh Fringe, Ruhrfestspiele Germany, Dublin Fringe Festival and Soho Theatre London.

In 2008, the company’s first directorial collaboration with Neill Gladwin, The Ghosts of Ricketts Hill, won Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Golden Gibbo Award. In the same year, The Suitcase Royale collaborated with renowned UK performance duo, Lone Twin on Newboys, commissioned and presented by Melbourne International Arts Festival.

2010 The Suitcase Royale bagged two Green Room awards for their Melbourne Comedy Festival production The Space Show. They have been programmed at both the Sydney Festival and World Theatre Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse, and undertook a six-week UK tour. There performed at Latitude Festival, Battersea Arts Centre and the Edinburgh Fringe, where they were nominated for a Total Theatre Award for most innovative theatre work. And were handpicked by Cate Blanchett to perform at the Sydney Theatre Company in September.

The Suitcase Royale have just returned from a two month UK tour in which they were named associate artists of the Battersea Arts Centre in London. The company premiered their new work Zombatland in Edinburgh and returned to London to a sold out season of The Ballad of Backbone Joe at the SOHO Theatre, receiving high praise from the UK press.

Glen Walton from the outfit spoke to us ahead of performances at Perth Festival.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
An electrician or a second hand car dealer

When did you know you would work in the arts?
when i did a theatre workshop in primary school

How would you describe your work to a complete stranger?
i say i make 'stuff'

Is there a mission to your work?
to create what i want to see on stage

What's your background – what did you study to get to where you are?
Jells Park Primary School, Brentwood Secondary college, two years in the school of 'life', then Deakin University studyin drama

What's the first thing career related you usually do each day?
check my bank balance to see if i should order a full breakfast of just a coffee...

Can you describe an "average" working day for you?
there has never really been an average day

What's the one thing - piece of equipment, toy, security blanket, – you can't work without?
Leatherman WAVE, which i just lost so i need to replace it soon....

What gets you fired up?
performing to rowdy crowds

Who in the industry most inspires you?
Sue Giles, Polyglot Theatre

What in the industry do you despair about?
safeness, there are not enough risks being taken and there is such a big gap between 'fringe' and 'arts festival'

What is the best thing about your job?
the people, sappy but true

What’s the most challenging aspect?
money, boring but true

What are the top three skills you need in this industry?
Stamina, Belief, and a slightly weird way at looking at the world...

What advice would you give anyone looking to break into your field?
build something of your own, or in a group, rely on your sense of whats right and wrong, watch theatre as much as for what you should do as what you shouldnt do.

How do you know when you missed the mark?
when you feel stupid doing it.

Which of the below phrases best suits your career development to date and why?
'A' but eventually constuction finishes... surely?
a. "The road to success is always under construction. "
b. "Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor."
c. "Success is best measured by how far you've come with the talents you've been given. "
d. "No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself."

When do you know you’ve made it?
when youve won the gold medal for curling in the winter olympics.