Quick introduction to your production, venue and performance times.

Radical Wedding Engine is a show produced by Ensemble Not Found, it is a playful experiment in marriage, chosen family and artistic partnership. Five East Asian migrant artists who have worked together for years take the wedding apart and put it back together again — testing vows, rituals, traditions and expectations along the way. Performance will be on Nov.7 5pm, Nov.8 7pm at The Cockpit.

What inspired you to start making or performing theatre?

I think for some of us, it started with the simple desire to be seen and to experience the excitement of being in front of an audience. There’s something quite special about live performance — the energy in the room, the immediate reactions, and the connection you build with people you might never have met otherwise. That feeling of sharing a moment with an audience is something we really enjoy, and it’s what keeps drawing us back to making and performing theatre.

Have you taken this production anywhere before? How was it received by the audience?

The piece  was developed through The Yard Theatre’s Live Drafts programme and a Making Space residency at Battersea Arts centre.

We recently shared an early version of the show at the Yard Theatre, and it was a really lovely experience. The audience described it as joyful and fun, which was wonderful to hear, as so much of the show is about human connection and the relationships we build with one another. It was lovely to see that sense of connection come through and resonate with the audience.

 

Why did choose to perform at the Voila Festival?

VOILA! Festival has always been a source of inspiration for us. We brought another show, Woo Woolf, to the festival last year, and it felt like a great platform for us as migrant artists to share work that reflects our cultures, experiences and perspectives. We really value the space VOILA! creates for diverse voices and stories, and we’re excited to be returning with a new piece that explores human connection through our own cultural lens.

Has there been anyone in your life who has inspired you to work in the theatre?

Speaking for the five of us, our inspirations came from quite different places. For some, it was local TV stars, like the Chinese crosstalk duo Qizhi and Dabing (奇志大兵), whose performances they used to imitate and could almost recite by heart as children. Others were, ironically, inspired by some rather bad actors on TV, thinking, “Surely I could do better than that!” In a way, our paths into theatre began with a mix of admiration, curiosity and the feeling that we wanted to give it a go ourselves.

How long have you been working on this particular production?

We first had the idea at the beginning of this year, although the actual production has only been in development for just over two months. It started as a conversation between the five of us, as we’ve all reached our thirties and, as East Asian people, naturally started thinking more about marriage, family and the life choices expected of us.

This led us to think about relationships beyond romance. How do we choose our family? What does commitment look like between artists? If five artists choose to bond together, could marriage be a way to make that commitment tangible? From there, the idea of having a real wedding for the five of us emerged: a way to celebrate artistic connection, chosen family and mutual support as migrant artists.

Do you have anything that you are planning on seeing while you are at the Voila Festival?

Yes, we are following quite a few pieces, for example,  Naked by Rabbit Hole Ensemble,LAMENT OF THE WANDERING HEAD by Sun Son Theatre,User Manual for a Broken Machine by KASSNA, We Are All Fish by YA-TA Collective, Blessed Forgetful by Peculiar Matter… There are loads of others we are trying to see as well!

What  would you like audiences to take away from your production?

We hope the show encourages people to rethink human connection and appreciate the kindness, love, and companionship they have in their lives. We want audiences to leave the room with a warm heart, reminded of the people who make their lives meaningful. Most of all, we want to share the connection and love between the five of us with our audience and hopefully inspire them to cherish the relationships they have in their own lives.

https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/the-radical-wedding-engine/