We all enjoy watching Dwayne Johnson act, there’s no doubt about that, but have you ever imagined watching a play that does not feature The Rock himself, but is inspired by him? Well, you don’t have to imagine anything – such project will be brought to life next week in London. Namely, a brand new musical “The People’s Rock” which was created and produced by women’s collaboration Nevertheless, She will debut as a part of the Vault Festival. The musical is set in the future 30 years from now, and it revolves around a girl who lives under the leadership of Emperor Trumpus and is obsessed by a legend – Dwayne The Rock Johnson. In the world that she lives in “there’s no television, internet or democracy, and everybody has forgotten about the past.” The producer of the play, Emma Shaw, answered some questions about the musical, so now you can get a sneak peek at it.
When asked about the very origin of “The People’s Rock,” Shaw explained that the play was inspired by one of her friend’s obsession with Johnson. “We were making comments about it, and someone mentioned that this could be a good idea for a play, and it developed from there,” she replied.
As for Nevertheless, She, the team consists of women who work in different industry branches, but who met for the first time about a year ago, and founded the collaboration, each making a different contribution to its development. When it comes to this project, in particular, Shaw said: “Putting on a play involves quite a lot of work and it’s a financial risk, but if you split it between five people, not so much. The idea was to form a writing group to help and support each other as females working in the industry, but also for a different funding model.”
Even though not many people would be able to make a connection between a ring and a theatre, Emma Shaw managed to do so, saying that “WWE is the theatre in its purest form!” She also added that “Wrestling and theatre have got quite a lot in common, there’s no difference really. Both are live events, you want to be there and be in the action.”
Another thing you should know about the musical is that Dwayne Johnson’s character is the only one which will be portrayed by a puppet, while the rest will be live-action. The reason why they decided to do so is that they “couldn’t quite afford Dwayne Johnson,” according to Shaw. She moved on to explain that “in the world that we’ve created, it’s not the real Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, it’s the teenage fantasy of him. In the script, we call him ‘The Fairy RockMother.’ He appears when she needs him.”
Furthermore, the producer elaborated saying: “The premise is that Dwayne Johnson has been turned into a cult figure like in Stalinist Russia, and is still the People’s Champion, but he’s also keeping them in line and doing time checks. When he suddenly disappears overnight, everyone pretends that he was never there and it becomes a post-truth fake news event. Our main character won’t accept it, and she doesn’t understand why everyone is asking her to be quiet.”
The musical is set to debut at the Network Theatre, where “there’s such an eclectic mix of stuff on, there’s straight, serious plays, there’s a tragicomedy about ISIS, plus some other musicals, and comedians too.”
Emma explained that their intention is to make the musical “relevant and talk about the way women engage with the messages someone like Donald Trump sends.” However, she also added that “at the same time, its primary role is to be a piece of entertainment.”
Finally, when asked why people should come to see “The People’s Rock,” Emma Shaw simply put it like this: “Because it’s a fun night out. It’s raining here, it’s January, and this is an hour of pure fantasy with music, puppets, and a great story. You’ll leave feeling uplifted, which at the moment is the best anyone can hope for!”
So, if you have the opportunity to actually go and watch this 60-minute musical, why not? It sounds promising judging by the previously said, right?
