The wonderful “Freehold”.

Whilst there I encountered the brilliant ‘Freehold’ company directed by the amazing Nancy Meckler. I was mesmerised and begged to join this mould-breaking troupe. They were inspired by the Polish director Jerzy Grotowski who had developed a whole new theatre genre which depended on great physical flexibility, strength and skill, absolute focus and a determination to capture the emotional heart of a performance, often transcending speech. It was like entering a different level of reality rooted in our ancient instincts. The experience was a total challenge for me and I will admit now that I was constantly trying to catch up with its demands. The doors of perception kept flying open and I was forever projected out of my comfort zone. I learnt a lot but was confronted by how little I knew.  Each morning we honed our bodies with exercise and physical improvisation. A key element of this was ‘The Cat’, a series of moves including yoga headstands, flying tumbles, head-over-heals and cartwheels. I got really fit. I was with Freehold from 1967 to 1969, a tremendous time where change was in the air, not just in theatre but the arts in general, in society and politics.

 Freehold performed ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles at The Edinburgh Festival and were a palpable hit. We got snapped up by some European producers and supported by The Brtish Council we found ourselves suddenly at The Venice Biennale, The Akademie der Kunst in Berlin and The Mikery near Amsterdam. They were some of my best days.