In the midst of the Bosnian War he smuggled his way into Sarajevo through a sewage tunnel to co-direct an opera. In the wake of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, he travelled to Sri Lanka and ran theatre projects with survivors of the natural disaster and child soldiers of the 20 year long Civil War and at the tender age of 18, as a student teacher in Africa, he wrote plays that toured lakeside villages by boat and jeep. As far as the term “brave director” goes, he more than fits the bill.
He has also made his fair share of brave artistic decisions, over many years of directing, writing and managing venues, not least of all being the production that led to the inspiration for his latest work The Bar At Buena Vista. “It’s probably thanks to a beautiful Australian called Kylie Minogue. I was directing her in a production of the Caribbean Tempest in Barbados and I started getting very interested in Caribbean cultures,” he explains. “I took a plane from Barbados over to Cuba… and walking into Cuba, 12 years ago; it was like walking into a museum – the life, the music and the characters.”
It’s an understatement to say he fell in love with the culture, and the first show to come out of this newfound infatuation was the epic Lady Salsa. Bringing the music and dance that is synonymous with Cuba to the world’s stages, Gough created a show that was writhing with energy. “It’s very young, female, sexy, energetic…” he recalls passionately, particularly the performers who “dance like they’re having the best sex of their lives.”
The inspiration for his second Cuban themed project came from the ’90s revival of an iconic music venue in Cuba’s capital Havana – the Buena Vista Social Club. A stalwart of Havana’s music scene, Buena Vista served as a hub for some of Cuba’s greatest musicians throughout the 40s and 50s, and those very musicians were recruited by Gough to create The Bar At Buena Vista.
After the glitz and glamour of Lady Salsa, Gough wanted to recreate the world that this Cuban energy came out of, but in a much more stripped-back setting. “Instead of having a huge show with hundreds of dancers and costume changes and show biz sets, I thought, ‘Let’s go back and recreate the beautiful old bar with these legendary musicians on stage telling these colourful stories of what it was like back in the day.”
The names are hardly household to us, but 94 year-old Reynaldo Creagh is the probably the world’s oldest working singer, and is considered by many to be Cuba’s last remaining living legend. He is accompanied by 86 year-old guitarist Maracibo, one of Cuba’s most loved composers, and 85 year-old pianist Maestro Rubalcaba who is nicknamed “The Hands of Gold”.
This trio makes the Rolling Stones look like spritely teenagers and when Gough first decided to put 90 year-olds on stage, the sewer of Sarajevo must have seemed like a truly risk-free venture. “You have to go slowly,” admits Gough, who has obviously spent his fair share of time waiting on the performers over the last decade that the show has been on the road, “but you do get to ride in the buggies at the airport,” he adds, with obvious affection.
Despite their age, Gough assures me that they’re still living the Cuban dream. “They’re full of passion and romance… and they have the secret of eternal life, they smoke cigars every day and they drink rum,” laughs Gough. Cigars and rum at 96? Now that’s bravery.
