Lloyd Newson and Intertextuality

1986 saw the formation of the physical theatre company known as DV8 Physical Theatre which since its inception until present day has been led by Lloyd Newson (www.dv8.co.uk) . Based in the United Kingdom this company has produced a lot of pieces which have toured internationally and have received awards , they also add to their achievements four award-winning films for television (www.dv8.co.uk) . In this essay I will discuss the intertextuality that can be seen in Dv8 original film The Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men conceived and directed by Lloyd Newson and how Newson approached the piece . Intertextuality can be defined as “the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text”(Wall, 2007:97). Or the ways in which the components of a performance text get meaning on the basis of their relationship with other texts(Jordan , 1992: 257). I this case this will be the way in which the piece makes reference to other material other than what the director and performers thoughts are about Nilsen.
Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men is loosely based on Brian Master’s book Killing for Company which is the story of Dennis Nilsen a serial killer who lured his victims (all young men ) back to his homes in Cricklewood and Muswell Hill and killed them by chopping their bodies into little pieces and stuffing them down the drain (http://www.dailymail.co.uk). Newson liked to challenge his audience by taking risks in his pieces not only physical risks but risks in his approach and within the piece itself draw form real life -the sociological and psychological- “ for many dance companies it seem risk just means nothing is risked in terms of content and approach” ( Lloyd :www.dv8.co.uk) . Newson stresses that as a company they only work on pieces that are motivated and driven by how the central idea affects them, they talk about their own personal experiences before they start to rehearse and set actual choreography,