Detention
by Gary Clarke Company
About Detention
Its stunning combination of movement, music and imagery makes for an unforgettable work of angry, emotional, celebratory, political dance.
The Herald on Sunday, on WASTELAND, 2023
A truly wonderful piece of dance-theatre: humane, politically charged, by turns funny and sad.
The Stage, on WASTELAND, 2023
In 1988, a piece of legislation from Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government devastated lives.
DETENTION, Gary Clarke Company's new dance theatre following previous shows COAL and WASTELAND, explores SECTION 28, which 'prohibited the promotion of homosexuality', forcing the LGBT+ community into a place of secrecy, fear and shame; set to a backdrop of nationwide industrial turmoil and the onslaught of AIDS.
Gary Clarke uses powerful storytelling drawing on verbatim testimonies with vivid choreography performed by a company of exceptional dancers, a narrator, and local cast of LGBT+ people. Featuring music tracks by iconic TEST DEPT, DETENTION is a bold and moving portrayal of the remarkable resilience of the individuals and organisations of the time.
Gary Clarke Company are proud to partner with Switchboard for DETENTION.
About Gary Clarke Company
Co-founded in 2015 and led by Artistic Director Gary Clarke and Executive Producer Annabel Dunbar, Gary Clarke Company is a pioneering, award-winning dance theatre company based in South Yorkshire. Renowned for high impact, high quality and high legacy work, the company tours extensively to middle scale venues across the UK, most recently the award-winning COAL (2016 – 2018) and critically acclaimed WASTELAND (2019/20 – 2023).
About Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke is an acclaimed British Choreographer, Performer and Movement Director. His theatrical dance works have toured extensively both nationally and internationally to critical and audience acclaim. Gary’s work has received a number of awards including A UK Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance (COAL) and A Critics Circle National Dance Award (COAL). He has also created stage and site-specific work for a number of companies and organisations including The National Theatre, Opera North and The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Gary has worked as a movement specialist on a number of large scale feature films including World War Z and The Mummy. In 2017, Gary was appointed as an honorary fellow at The Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
Cast & Creatives
Artistic Direction: Gary Clarke
Producer: Annabel Dunbar
Set & Costume Design: Ryan Dawson Laight
Lighting Design: Joshie Harriette
Composer / Sound Design: Torben Sylvest
Music Collaborators: TEST DEPT
Film Maker: Kamal Macdonald
Dramaturg: Lou Cope
Script & Text: Adam Zmith
Thatcher Voiceover: Steve Nallon
Performers:
Dancers: Gavin Coward, Alexandra Bierlaire, Alex Gosmore, Mayowa Ogunnaike, Imogen Wright
The Narrator: Lewey Hellewell
The LGBT+ Community: (5 local LGBT+ people aged 40+ cast and integrated into the show at each venue on tour) | to confirm end April 2025
Thatcher: El Perry (On Film)
Credits
DETENTION is produced by: GARY CLARKE COMPANY LTD
Co-commissioned by: Nottingham Playhouse, Grand Theatre Blackpool, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Cast, The Place, Midlands co-presenter: FABRIC
Gary Clarke Company is supported using public funding through Arts Council England and core funding from John Ellerman Foundation.
