August
1st - 25th Edinburgh ZOO (Aviary) 1:30pm
Press Release.
In The Surface Of A Bubble is a whirlwind of a play; a new style of theatre where the fluidity of brazilian capoeira breathes life into characters of metal and wood, catapulting them, spinning and free-wheeling in and out of each others' way, battling for supremacy.
In a reality where people need only imagine something for it to come true, the girl with the most imagination falls in love with the boy with the least and together they transform their world into ours, where thoughts are locked inside our heads
At its heart it's about a girl with a transgendered father and constantly absent mother, struggling to find her place in the world. It explores philosophies of Buddhism and Hindu as well as the naivety of youth: wanting more than anything to grow up and be free and how that clashes with what adulthood often means to people.
Inspired by Animé and martial art films, and using Capoeira, masks, puppetry, Kung-fu and live music, Lecoq trained Surface Of A Bubble (Edward Day and Line Møller-Christensen) team up with Adam Cridland and Amelie Leroy from Princess Mononoke to reveal how our universe came to be.
4 performers play 9 instruments and 25 characters, ranging from birds, beasts and humans to all-powerful gods, monsters and mischievous spirits.
Where did the idea for the story come from?
People often say they wish they could have more money, love, power, things, the ability to fly. People dream of all sorts of things beyond their limitations and I wondered: if there was a world where people could make anything they imagined come true, would they be happy? Or would they take what they have for granted and fantasise instead of an existence like ours where everything is concrete, wishing they could give all their power away. This was the seed ofthe story and brought up many new questions about who these people would be and how their society functioned that led the way to creating the characters of this world.
How deep do you get into the Buddhism?
We dab in and out of it and mix it with other philosophies. Each character has their own view of the world. They like to think they're free but really they're tied up in an endless cycle, making the same mistakes again and again. I've used many Buddhist principles as a springboard to create a new set of rules for how this world functions. In popular culture if enough people think something's fashionable then it becomes so for everyone else. In the world of the play we take it a step further so that it literally becomes true. If enough people believe gravity doesn't exist then everyone else will start floating away too.
How does Lecoq influence your approach?
Before training at Lecoq I no idea how it could be possible to put this story onstage. Lecoq gives you a huge toolbox of theatrical techniques and we've taken many of them on board and twisted them to suit our needs. We're a chorus of narrators telling the story, leaping in and out of many different characters, breathing life into a plethora of puppets and masks that transform from one shape into another, while accompanying the action with live music.
Given the range of stuff you are using - how would you describe your theatre style?
When I was first writing the play I thought of it as philosophical theatre, like the book The Alchemist but for stage, but when you get into the rehearsal room and the actors bring their ideas of who these people are you realise it's all about the characters. A group of misfits tell the story of a group of misfits tearing the world apart to try and figure out their place in it all. We've also been heavily inspired by graphic novels and anime and are trying to transpose techniques from them to the stage in a similar way to how films like Sin City have in film.
Why the Fringe?
The fringe is a great opportunity to show our work to a huge amountof people, getting direct feedback on what works and what doesn't. We're experimenting with theatrical techniques, playing with styles oftheatre that don't exist yet and as a new company we'd much rather throw ourselves in at the deep end to learn to swim, than spend years paddling around in safe, shallow waters of occasional performances here and there, trying to build an audience.
Do you feel any affinity with other companies who might be up this year?I like to think there's no Lecoq style, but inevitably fellow companies from Lecoq such as Theatre Ad Infinitum will have a similar flavour. I don't know much about their show but it looks like it has a sci-fi feel to it, which would be great. We want to see more science fiction theatre that takes itself and it's plotlines seriously and we'll be on the lookout for such shows while we're there.
At its heart it's about a girl with a transgendered father and constantly absent mother, struggling to find her place in the world. It explores philosophies of Buddhism and Hindu as well as the naivety of youth: wanting more than anything to grow up and be free and how that clashes with what adulthood often means to people.
Inspired by Animé and martial art films, and using Capoeira, masks, puppetry, Kung-fu and live music, Lecoq trained Surface Of A Bubble (Edward Day and Line Møller-Christensen) team up with Adam Cridland and Amelie Leroy from Princess Mononoke to reveal how our universe came to be.
4 performers play 9 instruments and 25 characters, ranging from birds, beasts and humans to all-powerful gods, monsters and mischievous spirits.
Interview with Edward Day
Where did the idea for the story come from?
People often say they wish they could have more money, love, power, things, the ability to fly. People dream of all sorts of things beyond their limitations and I wondered: if there was a world where people could make anything they imagined come true, would they be happy? Or would they take what they have for granted and fantasise instead of an existence like ours where everything is concrete, wishing they could give all their power away. This was the seed ofthe story and brought up many new questions about who these people would be and how their society functioned that led the way to creating the characters of this world.
How deep do you get into the Buddhism?
We dab in and out of it and mix it with other philosophies. Each character has their own view of the world. They like to think they're free but really they're tied up in an endless cycle, making the same mistakes again and again. I've used many Buddhist principles as a springboard to create a new set of rules for how this world functions. In popular culture if enough people think something's fashionable then it becomes so for everyone else. In the world of the play we take it a step further so that it literally becomes true. If enough people believe gravity doesn't exist then everyone else will start floating away too.
How does Lecoq influence your approach?
Before training at Lecoq I no idea how it could be possible to put this story onstage. Lecoq gives you a huge toolbox of theatrical techniques and we've taken many of them on board and twisted them to suit our needs. We're a chorus of narrators telling the story, leaping in and out of many different characters, breathing life into a plethora of puppets and masks that transform from one shape into another, while accompanying the action with live music.
Given the range of stuff you are using - how would you describe your theatre style?
When I was first writing the play I thought of it as philosophical theatre, like the book The Alchemist but for stage, but when you get into the rehearsal room and the actors bring their ideas of who these people are you realise it's all about the characters. A group of misfits tell the story of a group of misfits tearing the world apart to try and figure out their place in it all. We've also been heavily inspired by graphic novels and anime and are trying to transpose techniques from them to the stage in a similar way to how films like Sin City have in film.
Why the Fringe?
The fringe is a great opportunity to show our work to a huge amountof people, getting direct feedback on what works and what doesn't. We're experimenting with theatrical techniques, playing with styles oftheatre that don't exist yet and as a new company we'd much rather throw ourselves in at the deep end to learn to swim, than spend years paddling around in safe, shallow waters of occasional performances here and there, trying to build an audience.
Do you feel any affinity with other companies who might be up this year?I like to think there's no Lecoq style, but inevitably fellow companies from Lecoq such as Theatre Ad Infinitum will have a similar flavour. I don't know much about their show but it looks like it has a sci-fi feel to it, which would be great. We want to see more science fiction theatre that takes itself and it's plotlines seriously and we'll be on the lookout for such shows while we're there.
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