When the five—arguably angry—men of The Bells come riding on bicycles, their gentle interruption is little indication of what is about to ensue before they fleetingly depart. A surprising blend of street theatre, dance, chamber music and acrobatics takes over the open space they choose to call the stage for the next 45 minutes.

The Bells is a long-running outdoor production by 5AngryMen, an Australian pleín-air theatre company known for innovative stage design and physically arduous shows requiring enormous discipline from the performers. While theatre forms the heart of their creations, they are at once an act of public intervention insisting on the importance of accessibility for artistic discourse. “Always in public spaces, always for everyone,” they proclaim.

The performance pivots around a colossal structure christened the bell tower. An imposing presence, it has five ropes hanging from it, attached with a combination of bungee cords. The bell tower transforms into a giant musical instrument, and the performers are the musicians as they leap, sway, weep and grapple. 

The Bells harks back to the era after the Industrial Revolution, and the protagonist of the spectacle is the proletariat. The nature of the show seems elusive, as the performers attack an impossible task with a manic, unwavering belief: At all costs, the bells must be rung. The results are at once comical and tragic. 

Running for nearly three decades now, The Bells has travelled to different corners of the world, leaving behind an enduring visual memory. December will mark the India premiere of the production at the Serendipity Arts Festival in Panaji. 

ON Stage spoke to Stephen Phillips, Artistic Director at 5AngryMen, ahead of their performance. Excerpts from the conversation:

ON Stage: From the bell tower to the costume design, each element seems to reveal a deeper metaphor. Could you please talk about the themes the production touches upon? 

Stephen Phillips: The bell tower itself is a work of art with bells weighing two tonnes, creating interlocking pentatonic scales. The performers work in a rhythmic manner and must have a good sense of their bodies as instruments of dance. The emotional aspect comes through with the characters responding realistically to their experiences. The structure serves as a geographical marker, inviting people in. It is almost an extension of the core intention of the company to be inclusive, accessible and free for all. 

The visual strands of the show, on the other hand, are reminiscent of the post-Industrial Revolution world and the professions considered menial. The chimney sweeps, the night soil carters, the lamplighters and the ragpickers undertook these roles because no one else would. And within the narrative, these characters can never complete the tasks. The clashing of impossibility provides a performative stake which is very exciting for us to perform, and it keeps the audience engaged. It is a bit of a paradox.

OS: The show has been running since 1995. How has it evolved over the years and through several generations of performers? 

SP: The approach of the show and our training have not changed. There were a lot of new ideas, but I felt that it was rather important to do the production as it was intended to be done. However, a modification would be that women performed the production for a long time until we decided to open it up. While there are still women performers of the production, the iteration of The Bells that has been running for a couple of years has an entirely male cast, like the earliest version. It summons an exploration of masculinity. 

With women performing, it could have a very different connotation today. Each rope in the set-up has a different journey. There is staged combat between performers and a lot of physical engagement building up on one of the ropes. It is simulated violence— something we train for and work very carefully on so that no one is injured. Now, if we have a female performer with four other men, and if she happens to be on the rope that everyone is attacking, it gives out a very different message. We just had to be mindful of these layers.

OS: How have people reacted to the show in different PHOTOS BY SAM ROBERTS parts of the world, for the production is also an act of public art intervention?  

SP: Audience interaction is a big part of the show because it is essentially street theatre. In the same way that it is free for everyone to come and watch, they are also free to leave. Some people will stop for a minute and carry on; some will want to sit down and some will come to us at the end with tears in their eyes. One cannot know what it means to different people and that’s the beauty of it. The most frequent question we get everywhere we perform is: Why? What was that for? Why were we trying so hard to do this thing that does not mean anything? And frankly, we do not have an answer. All we have gathered is that the viewers are moved.

OS: The production demands arduous physical training from the performers. What does that involve? 

SP: The first thing to ensure is that everyone can achieve movement on the bungee. The ability to bounce high and for a long period is essential. When new people come, it takes months of training to do just that. Dance methodology and choreography are a priority while also teaching young artistes to work together as an ensemble. After the physical side of the training, we move to the musicality. It is an important creative outcome to achieve a level of trance and bypass the rational. It happens through a kind of physical rigour and exhaustion to the point where your mental state begins to change. And for us, that is the essence of the transformation of the self to the character. The Bells begins with a burst of energy that takes us straight to that place. If we stop training, we simply will not be able to perform the piece. 

OS: The show evokes images of the travelling circus of yesteryear that goes to different towns to perform. What are your thoughts on the state of circus arts today? 

SP: I think The Bells fits into the modern definition of circus. We have a very strong aerial component to what we do, along with a lot of audience interaction. Those are the two elements that align us. But we are a theatre company that has, over the years, become more fascinated with circus arts so, I suppose I cannot speak of the longer history of the art form. However, in Australia, art is becoming harder and harder to get funded. As the world becomes more economical, large-scale aerial productions that require insurance, engineering and varied levels of compliance have become very expensive. There is an element to The Bells that is dangerous. We are in the air with no harness, only our training keeping us on the ropes. There’s little money to combat the hurdles that we have to overcome in terms of safety. I think we are becoming more conservative and risk-averse in how we make art, which is reflected in why we want the production to stay how it was. It is like a letter from the past. 

OS: Would you like to share any anecdotes from the road for our readers? 

SP: We performed in El Salvador last year and at the end of the show, we let the audience get on the ropes. This does not normally happen. We wanted to invite the audience to come and ring the bells. It worked so well and brought everyone together in a way we were not expecting. We truly look forward to the Serendipity Arts Festival and hope to achieve something great. We have heard so much about the keen spectatorship on that side of the world, and India has always been a dream. 

ON Stage goes to Goa

This month, ON Stage will travel to the Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) in Panaji, Goa. One of the largest multidisciplinary cultural events in India, the SAF’s curation spans visual, performing and culinary arts. Along with fine performances and experiences, the festival offers engaging talks, panels and workshops on pertinent subjects like arts education and pedagogy, cultural patronage, interdisciplinary discourse and access to the arts

ON Stage will be hosting a panel discussion titled The Shrinking Space for Writing on the Arts on 21st December. Naresh Fernandes, author, journalist and Editor at Scroll, along with Suanshu Khurana, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express will discuss the dwindling avenues for specialised writing and critique on the performing and visual arts in India. While both print and digital media are saturated with coverage of film and popular music, a similar dialogue on theatre, classical music, dance and literature is conspicuous by its absence. The performing arts typically make headlines amid awards season, artiste controversies or deaths instead of an evolving conversation. The panel takes a deep dive into the matter, deliberating over how editorial engagement can change the landscape. 

The panel will be moderated by Snigdha Hasan, Editor, ON Stage