Big Boys Don’t Cry… do they?

Debuting at Tobacco Factory Theatres this January, Big Boys Don’t Cry is a new show from Opposable Thumb Theatre that explores emotional intelligence and ideas and expectations of masculinity.

Co-creators and performers Dik Downey and Adam Blake have a shared background in clowning, physical comedy and puppetry.

They formed Opposable Thumb in 2019, after six years of collaborating and developing the symbiotic relationship that characterises their work. Coulrophobia, their show about two clowns trapped in a cardboard world, won them widespread acclaim.

“I know instinctively what Adam is going to do on stage, and vice versa,” says Downey. “We have developed a lot of tropes from classic double acts. I’m more of the straight man to Adam’s fool, but with enough freedom to reverse the role when necessary.”

Though the success of Coulrophobia was gratifying, the duo wanted to experiment with their style, while still incorporating the elements of puppetry, music, “big ideas and being stupid” that they did so well.

In searching for a theme to hook a new show onto, Downey recalls that the impetus for Big Boys Don’t Cry actually came from his wife: “She suggested we made it about Adam and I being relatively ‘crap men’, and it snowballed from that. We looked at what makes a man, starting with Frankenstein and Pinocchio. What would you put in or leave out if you were starting from scratch?”

Downey and Blake developed the show in an empty Bristol office, which they rented for six weeks between lockdowns. They soon realised that beyond the stereotypes they were interrogating, and in spite of the humour and silliness of the performance style, they had imbued the work with a rawness, an honesty, and more emotion than they had expected.

Director Emma Williams echoes this analysis, noting that behind perceived arrogrance of masculinity, we may find confusion, fear and insecurity: “Adam and Dik are visual and physical; they play on stage and it’s absolutely joyous to watch. They are big boys that don’t cry.

“We examined where these skills came from and what is hidden underneath. The revelations were authentic, surreal, hysterical and once again show a struggle within masculinity. It’s a struggle that exists if you are a man’s man with a love of football and a strong slap for a hug, or if you are a funny man that wears big shoes and falls over a lot.”

Production image – photo: Opposable Thumb Theatre

For Downey, one of the powers of clowning is its ability to emotionally disarm audiences who are relaxed, and laughing. “Using humour as a vehicle to deliver a strong emotion or shocking truth is a very old trick, but also highly effective,” he says.

“Previously, I have always hidden myself in my performances, either behind a mask, makeup or a puppeteers’ veil so that I didn’t have to expose my true self on stage. We’ve taken a big leap here making a show that is so personal, and we hope it will resonate with anybody regardless of age, race or gender.

So what is Downey’s personal relationship to the idea of masculinity? It’s a tricky one to pin down, he says. Playing with stereotypes when making the show was a revelatory process for him and Blake. “We intended to get to the heart of machismo, but realised that we couldn’t fake it,” he reflects.

“We’re just not macho men. We grew up playing war, shooting and dying, high speed car chases, cops and robbers and all that, but it never became anything more than play. We are somewhat bewildered by what it must be like for some men, but we can only be who we are.”

Production image – photo: Opposable Thumb Theatre

The focus for Big Boys Don’t Cry soon widened beyond ideas of the alpha male identity, to encompass fathers and sons, grief and joy, dreams, memories, self-worth, and problems with communication – specifically around emotion.

As a result, audiences are forewarned to expect a balance of silliness and pathos. And for Downey, it’s really all about the thrill of performing again, after such a prolonged break: “hopefully everybody out there is dying to get away from their TVs and see two idiots making an arse of themselves”.

Big Boys Don’t Cry is at Tobacco Factory Theatres on January 26-29 at 8pm. Tickets are available from www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com. Opposable Thumb are also bringing Coulrophobia back to Bristol this Autumn, with a series of dates at The Wardrobe Theatre.

Main photo: Opposable Thumb Theatre

Read more: Preview: Coulrophobia, Wardrobe Theatre

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