'Saved' at Lyric Hammersmith - 4/5

Unseen in 25 years, a new run of Edward Bond’s seminal playSaved has opened at London’s Lyric Hammersmith.

 Infamous for its shocking scenes of abuse, the original sixties production met with outraged response and was heavily censored. This groundbreaking new production triumphs by exploring the source of such vehemently hostile audience reaction – an unforgiving humanism that caused Bond to describe the play as ‘irresponsibly optimistic.’ Under the direction of Sean Holmes, with mesmeric performances from its cast, the audience is forced to confront their outrage at the deplorable acts of violence and, if not relate with, then at least understand the characters who commit them.

Saved is a vivid portrait of working class South London and, at its heart, a domestic environment governed by cyclical conflict. The play’s opening scene is a hilarious courting ritual between lead couple Pam (Lia Saville) and Len the lodger (the outstanding Morgan Watkins) which sets the tone with a brilliant blend of challenging silences, comedy and shock.

After Pam becomes pregnant, the relationship breaks down and by the time the baby arrives, Pam has a begun an obsessive relationship with the lewd and ambivalent Fred. Len refuses to leave the home at the indifference of Pam’s parents. Moments of audience sympathy interrupt grating rows and the appalling neglect of the baby, which culminates in its murder at the hands of Len and Fred’s yobbish friends with both men either directly or indirectly complicit.

Bond suggests the catalyst for his decision to allow a new production was the London rioting that incited a similar contrast of outrage and pleas to understand the youth: “inSaved the young men commit their murder in the park in order to regain their self-respect. Anyone who does not understand this cannot understand the contradictions and torments of living in a modern city.”

During rehearsals, i-D conducted an interview with Lia Saville as she revealed the intense, emotional engagementSaved demands from its actors. Following the traumatic turns of the plot, the characters must seem grotesquely malignant at the same time as inciting sympathy from the audience. There is no doubt the play succeeds at this: in a practically silent final scene the actors stare out at the audience in a kind of mutual understanding – underneath our antagonistic reaction lies a fear of ourselves and, much as we would gall at admitting it, we recognise them just as much as they recognise us.

Snakehips

‘Snakehips’ aka Ollie Dickinson is the pioneering hip hop producer from North London weaving soulful, East Coast nostalgia with the modern edge of the glitch-hop movement.

Hot on the feet of crews such as Glasgow’s LuckyMe, Snakehips is the latest to join the hip hop resurgence – gaining high-profile online admirers including LA producer NOSAJ THING. Despite a rousing live gig with Beaty Heart at Dalston’s Shacklewell Arms, appearances are a valued rarity – his popularity almost solely fuelled by online hype and by constantly churning out beats to his large, cyber fan-base.

His new Hoffman West EP, out for free-download on Bandcamp, showcases a triumphant first year of producing. A beat-tape of eleven short tracks they each evoke their own unique blend of ingenious soul cuts that will have your eyes closed and head bobbing. So zip up and zone in as i-D online chats to Snakehips, coming soon to a pet shop near you.

Where did the name ‘Snakehips’ come from? A dance move I used to do inspired by Earl ‘Snakehips’ Tucker. He used to dance to really early jazz in the 30s or 40s on telly. He had these really ‘eccentric’ dance moves – kinda fucked up but kinda cool. He’s the man who invented breakdancing… Sort of.

What are you listening to at the moment? There’s so much great new music the moment – Blank & Kytt, Camouflage Children, Young Montana?. Last thing was probably Ta-Ku. He’s awesome – really soulful. He always digs the best old samples. But they’re also really well produced. It’s my perfect hip hop – technically fresh but also really raw.

What’s your process when making a track? I don’t really have any set way of making stuff. I’ll just listen to a whole load of old records – sometimes I’ll sample drums, stick a beat together and work from there. I’m always listening out for that special bit in the record… It could just be a chord or a couple of bars that I can chop and twist into something truly vulgar. I try to make instrumental hip hop that doesn’t sound like it’s missing an mc, that works perfectly as a composition.

If you can have one rapper on your record who would it be?John Barnes…

Tell us about your inspirations… New skool producers  – Hud Mo, Ta-Ku, the Brainfeeder guys – but because they emulate the sound of classic underground hip hop – the greats like Pete Rock, J Dilla, Mad Lib, Lord Finesse – it’s the use of the old vibes and combining it with modern ways of producing – that’s what I love. I listen to an enormous amount of stuff outside of hip hop though and get just as much inspiration from bands and musicians as I do from producers.

You’ve had numerous guitar bands, solo acoustic material as well as being a professional jazz musician. How have these influenced your music? I used to play folk music… maybe I shouldn’t mention that! I guess it changes the samples you look for and helps you be more creative with it. Jazz always helps – just searching for breaks and things like that. It’s the feel of jazz isn’t it!? If you’ve always played jazz and swing music – you’re always going to be feeling hip hop. I’ve really only been producing hip hop for a year. I’m used to writing songs so when I produce, I try and make them sound like a piece of music – rather than just a beat.

What’s next? Keep pumping out as much material as I can – constantly updating my soundcloud – bringing out new beats every week to keep people listening.

Download Snakehips’ Hoffman West EP here and see our full i-DJ archive here.

soundcloud.com/snakehips-1