The floating arts centre on the Isle Of Dogs will be venue for Will Amott’s drag-draped show
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Life can get pretty stormy.
But, according to London-based creative, Willy Amott: “There’s always someone singing as the boat goes down.
“Whether it be Titanic, The Poseidon Adventure or in real life, that entertainment still happens even in those dark moments.
“The show must go on, is a saying some people really do live by.
“I thought that was a really interesting angle and it would be fun to put an audience in that situation – then make it very silly and not scary.”
On September 26, 2024, Willy is set to bring Get Your Ducks In A Row to Theatreship on the Isle Of Dogs – a Cabaret-style show that promises to thrust the audience into a world which is, well, ending.
“The idea is that the audience and performers are all on the last known ship because the climate crisis has happened and sea levels have risen,” said Willy.
“The uber rich have gone up in the sky and are probably living on the moon.
“The middle rich, however, are on this boat and the performers are providing the entertainment for the evening.
“There will be some sort of prize –maybe joining the rich on their blimp in the sky – which will add a sort of game show element to this surreal, post-apocalyptic cabaret.”
stepping into the arts
Originally from Bristol, Willy had a varied career journey before “tripping” into the arts and culture world for the first time during the pandemic.
He said: “I never studied live art or performance at university, but I think sometimes there’s a great benefit in that.”
In the last four years he has mainly spent time producing other people’s shows including performances for Fierce Festival, Beatfreeks and Fatt Projects.
He has also managed stages at Manchester Pride and Birmingham Pride, toured with drag artists like Bailey J Mills and cabaret collectives like Send In The Clowns, filling in the gaps with odd jobs as a performer, facilitator, panellist and researcher.
In January, he took the plunge and moved to London to pursue his dream of creating his own shows under company name Willy Does Productions.
He got his chance after successfully bidding for £1,000 seed funding for this year’s Totally Thames Festival, which “takes off some pressure” and has allowed him to really play around with the concept for Ducks.
The unique setting of Theatreship – an arts venue set aboard a former cargo vessel – has also played a big role in its evolution.
“Initially, I applied with slightly different idea – a bit lower key,” said Willy.
“It was just going to be a sort of light touch environmental quiz with performance elements.
“Then someone from the festival said I should check out Theatreship.
“The second I saw inside it, I knew we had to be there.
“I decided to make it more performance heavy and amp up the immersive elements.
“The idea has transformed into something I think will be very wacky and very silly.”
bringing a different Energy to Theatreship
The evening will be hosted by comedian and West End star Richard Energy, who Willy has worked with before.
“He performs stand-up, lipsyncs, sings live and will be providing a little narrative sense to the chaotic evening,” said Willy.
Beyond Richard, there’s a trio of performers, namely Cyro, a trans drag performer and co-host of Man Up London, Jean, winner of Top Of The Slops 2024 who wears denim ensembles and Jamie Fuxx, a cheeky heartthrob who has performed across the capital.
“In general in my work I try to platform more drag artists,” said Willy.
“It’s important to make sure that other people are getting their moment in the spotlight, including people I think are really good and these performers certainly are.
“Usually I put on this kind of show for other people – they present their ideas to me and I work out how to make it happen in a really pragmatic way.
“Being the creative is very different.
“My notes for this show have been so long my finger gets tired scrolling through them.
“It’s full of silly little things I’ve seen on Tiktok or YouTube – songs I think might work for a particular moment.
“When I was producing for other people I would always try to make it work – whatever they wanted. Now I’m trying to do that with myself and not cut off ideas.
“The reason the show has grown is because I gave myself permission to say: ‘What you really want to do is something that is a bit mad and requires the imagination, but that’s fine. You can make people buy into it if you buy into it yourself first’.
“I’ve learned to say yes to myself in the last couple of months and that’s a skill.
“Sometimes we don’t let ourselves play like that as we get older, we start to get too practical.
“But I just allowed myself to play with the idea.”
a deeper dive into Theatreship
Launched in January, Theatreship is an arts venue run by Inigo Lapwood and a group of volunteers.
The former bulk dry cargo carrier is moored in Millwall Cutting between West India South Dock and Millwall Inner Dock.
It used to carry up to 300 tonnes of grain and coal but was brought across from the Netherlands as part of a project with the Canal And River Trust to reopen the dock as a public space.
Fully converted, it boasts a 110-seat auditorium suitable for theatre performances or film screenings and a cafe-bar area within its steel cargo hold.
The aim is to make it into a mixed arts space with the help of its impressive role call of staff.
They include head of film programming, Natalie Hill, who has won multiple BAFTAs and head of music programming Karl Lutchmayer – a multi-award winning Steinway artist and former professor at Trinity Laban in Greenwich.
key details: Get Your Ducks In A Row at Theatreship
Get Your Ducks In A Row will be performed aboard Theatreship on September 26, 2024.
Doors open at 5.30pm for a performance at 7.30pm.
Tickets start at £9.42 and are available through Totally Thames.
Find out more about the production here
Read more: Why Jools Holland is looking forward to the Boisdale Music Awards
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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
