Planet Paul

I don’t know how Peter Boyd Maclean isn’t more famous than he is. It’s one of those Arthur C. Clarke Mysteries. You know the kind where the big question being asked is: how the fuck doesn’t everyone know about this guy? That is, in other words, how the fuck don’t the majority of people know about Peter Boyd Maclean? It’s probably part of the reason I originally set up Planet Paul way back in 2010 to give light to those who deserve blessings from the Great God of Luck for their Natural Born Talents, etc. etc.

I’ve known Peter for well-on thirty years and have always marvelled at his brilliance as a filmmaker, artist, musician and all-round-good-guy. (The last is a bonus point in my book.) Most people in TV or Film have sharp elbows intended to keep you away from a fair share of the main course.

I first met Peter when we worked together in the Music & Arts Department or as one wag named it the Musical Farts Department at BBC Scotland in the early 1990s. He seemed like a teenage wunderkind whose talent was never quite fully appreciated by those idiots who run the meejah. You know the kind of people. Those people who think beige is the most fashionable colour and wish the Guardian did horoscopes.

Peter first came to note as one-half of the twinset and perils known as the Duvet Brothers, alongside Rik Lander. If you’ve never heard of the Duvet Brothers then Duck-Duck-Go the scratch videos for Pump Up The Volume or Blue Monday both of which changed promo-vision and accidentally unleashed Adam Curtis-style documentaries upon the world. The Duvet Brothers changed television and film. But sadly, like all good nursery stories in search of a happy ending, they got fucked over by the conglomerates who saw their unique and original work as something to be retooled for their own petty ambitions.

Plus ca change plus ca meme chose.

Peter progressed on to a very successful career as director/producer with the BBC and Channel 4, making documentaries and series as diverse as In Search of Steve Ditko, Pete & Dud: The Lost Sketches, Crapston Villas, and Banzai. In 2009, Peter wrote and directed the short film documentary in collaboration with the artist Millree Hughes called Lummox which deconstructed the whole concept of documentary filmmaking with a nod to Lacan’s theories on destructive envy.

Okay, you’ve had the intro, so now let’s find out what Peter or rather the Duvet Brothers are doing right now.

This week the Duvet Brothers present an immersive theatrical experience called Ritual Virtual – Inside the Sacred Rituals which is based on the Greek myths surrounding the mother and daughter Demeter and Persephone. Now, if you’ve never heard of these characters you should have a quick butchers of Robert Graves’ classic books Greek Myths Vol I and Vol. II. In fact, we’ve got Robert here (He’s dead – Ed.), so what’s it all about, Bob?

Robert Graves (for it is he!): I’m glad you asked, Planet. Demeter was the ancient Greek goddess of the harvest. Or death and rebirth, if you will. Now, as is typical in these Greek myths Demeter had a beautiful daughter called Persephone.

One day, Demeter and Persephone were walking through a beautiful meadow admiring the bounty of Nature, when whop, bang, fizz, Hades, the rascal and god of the underworld appeared and decided to steal Persephone away for his own wicked and disgusting ways.

Unsurprisingly, Demeter was well pissed-off as any mum would be when some random abducts her daughter. So, Demeter decides she will fuck-up the harvest by bringing winter upon the land and destroy all of the crops – fruit, vegetables and any of those Whole Foods outlets that were around back then. Serious shit, as you can imagine. So much so, that ye great god and nasty mad-shagger Zeus has to intervene.

Zeus goes down to kick Hades’ butt. But, Hades says, Persephone can only leave if she hasn’t eaten any of the food he has given to her. Thankfully, Persephone hasn’t touched the Maccy D’s or the KFC but unfortunately for her, she has devoured a pomegranate which now means Persephone is stuck in Hell.

Zeus being Zeus comes up with a deal. Persephone will spend six months in Hades and six months with her mum Demeter. Obviously, this was way before women had any rights. Hades accepts the deal.

So, now Demeter has her daughter back for six months of the year, which becomes the time of spring, summer and harvest, while Hades has Demeter during autumn and winter or the time of death and rebirth. This is where seasons come from. (As if – Ed.)

This is only part of the story as Demeter and Persephone were honoured in ancient times in an annual festival known as the Thesmophoria which celebrated human and agricultural fertility at harvest time. These festivals were held by women and involved a series of sacred secret rites known as the Eleusinian Mysteries which focus on the abduction of Persephone, Demeter’s search for Persephone, and finally the ascension or rebirth of Persephone. These rituals tied into concepts of eternal life through fertility and the possibility of an afterlife.

What is ‘Ritual Virtual’ about?

Peter Boyd Maclean: It is a recreation of the celebration of Demeter that took place for over a thousand years at the temple of Demeter on the Eleusis known as the Eleusinian Mysteries

How did you become involved in it?

PBM: I conceived the idea as a documentary and a possible VR experience. Then Rik [Lander] my old Duvet Brothers partner said that University of the West of England were commissioning projects to showcase their brand new tech centre that had robots and a studio with 22 speakers surround sound and a massive screen.

So we adapted the idea to suit the brief 

What attracted you to the story? Why this story?

PBM: The story attracted me because I discovered that during the rituals they would imbibe a hallucinogenic drink called kykeon. They say this drink was made with some of the barley which came from the bakery next to the temple. This barley was supposedly infected with the fungus ergot which causes hallucinations. Many centuries later, Albert Hoffman made LSD from ergot sparking a cultural revolution of the 60’s

 The participants at these rituals would have revelations, and overcome their fear of death.

Plato was alleged to have been inspired to write about the Cave of Shadows which Carl Jung picked up a couple of thousand years later. I also like the idea that the fathers of modern (well up till a a few years ago) civilisation, Plato and Aristotle developed their ideas while under the influence of hallucinogens in week long festivals. A couple of thousand years later we got Woodstock and the Grateful Dead, Sgt Pepper’s etc

Demeter was the God of the harvest, birth, death and rebirth and this was something that deeply interested me.

A few years ago I went on a retreat involving ayahuasca and I had revelations that helped me deal with the prolonged low-level grief I had after my brother died years ago. It all came up and I received a message which helped enormously.

What was the message?

PBM: ‘Tend to the living.’

I realised through an internal dialogue with myself I had been tending to the grief, keeping it alive as it was my connection to my brother I suppose.

It was like a medieval saying, tending to the garden, tending to the grief and the strong message was tend to the living, to my kids. Loved ones. Everyone.

I wrote the song and then the Greek myth of Demeter’s search for Persephone her grief then the acceptance of life death rebirth

They were clever them mythmakers no wonder they still inspire.

You say it’s immersive, can you explain what this involves?

PBM: It’s immersive theatre, the mystics, or initiates or punters go through the initiation that the ancient Greeks did at the temple except they didn’t have the advantage of robots haha and they don’t take drugs so they experience stuff through the VR headset instead 

I made the VR headset film over the last six months and am  producing the live stuff with Rik.

Gary Bridgewood my partner from our band the Book of Shame has composed a fantastic soundtrack that takes us to the Underworld and back in a continuous swirl of emotions.

Apart from Virtual Reality and robots who is in the production?

PBM: Zoe Portella a fantastic singer and performer I’ve been working with is Demeter in the VR  and the high priestess for the initiation ceremony

Gary is playing live and Zoe will also sing a song at the end of it.

Ceri Seel is an academic and Ancient Greece expert and does a lot of rituals

Brad Crowley is the town crier of Glastonbury and a host that guides the initiates through to the ceremony.

Marie Helen Boyd is another guide to the initiates. 

What do you think people will experience from ‘Ritual Virtual’?

PBM: I think it might be a bit far for it to be a life changing experience. 

Firstly it’s entertainment and I hope people will have fun joining in playing a part in the fun. There’s live performances and theatre and a VR experience the likes of which you won’t see on many other platforms 

Secondly maybe a moment of self reflection, that would be an achievement 

Thirdly a wish to join the new cult of Dementer!

The Duvet Brothers’ immersive production of ‘Ritual Virtual’ will be held on the 3rd and 4th of July at the Bristol Robotics Lab, University of the West of England, T Block, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY.

There will be two productions on Thursday 3rd July.

Tickets for first performance 3rd July available here.

Tickets for the second performance 3rd July available here.

Tickets for the performance on Friday 4th July available here.

With thanks to Peter Boyd Maclean.