PRAXIS MAKES PERFECT | STAGE PREVIEW
Secret location in Cardiff
Thurs 2-Sun 5 May (inc. 3pm show Sat 4)
Tickets: £15-£20
words: Mab Jones
Praxis is the act of engaging, applying, exercising, realising, or practicing ideas. Promising “audience engagement” from the very beginning, creative cool cat Gruff Rhys talks to me about Praxis Makes Perfect which, in the words of National Theatre Wales, is an “immersive gig” transporting us back in time to the very exciting world and life of millionaire Italian communist, activist and publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
Born into one of Italy’s wealthiest families and descended from a marquess, Feltrinelli was a man who took a keen interest in the lives of the poor and working class from a young age. Eventually, this led him to develop a political stance that was decidedly left-wing. As a publisher, he brought the words of political icons such as Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to public attention, although it was through the publication of Doctor Zhivago and author Henry Miller that Rhys, as with most people, came across him.
“National Theatre Wales called us in after we did some work on a theatre production with Phil Collins in Berlin. I was telling them about the Feltrinelli album [which we’d started working on] and they were really interested in helping us turn it into some kind of narrative,” says Rhys. “We started to form ideas with Tim Price and he came with us to Italy where we went to the Feltrinelli library in Milan”. Rhys is animated and full of enthusiasm as he talks.
“What defined F in a way was his life-long fight against fascism. His library is full of socialist texts, anarchist and feminist texts, counter-cultural magazines”. While these were extremely exciting, it is the story of Feltrinelli himself which Rhys, Price, musical collaborator Boom Bip, and director Wils Wilson have brought vividly to life. “We wanted to connect people with his life. The songs are pretty melodramatic; it’s not an album of political rhetoric, its more about the trials and tribulations of Feltrinelli during a time of violent civil war.”
And so to the production’s promise that we will see Feltrinelli playing basketball with Castro and being tortured by the CIA. “The violence doesn’t translate well,” says Rhys, “and it isn’t a thing to glorify. But people will be inspired”.
Info: 029 2063 6464
