Kaleidoscope Theatre at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
DREAMING AMIDST THORNS
"Tear out all the pages and wash out every word
For all these other stories are absurd"
Kaleidoscope Theatre returns to the Fringe, after 12 years away, to premiere its new play.
Dreaming Amidst Thorns is an allegorical and original faerie tale reflecting on the fragile and fragmented world of today. The show strives to keep alive the questing spirit and utopian quest for a better world and to stay sympathetic to the ethos of both its venue and the festival fringe.
Venue 40: Quaker Meeting House
Date: 14-19 August Time: 18-30 (19.45)
What was the inspiration for this performance?
The world we all live in. Dismay at the fragile & fractured place it has become due to selfishness, greed, prejudice, war, the desire for power & possession & lack of foresight, compassion & understanding of what our true relationship with the world, & all things that live upon it, should be.
The displacement of people & loss of life & home & identity.
Underlying themes running through this allegorical play touch upon the questions of “Who am I?" & “Where am I?” What is it that makes us truly happy & at peace with ourselves & each other? What is happening to the planet as old forests are falling fast, ocean life is dying & hot sun parches the earth?
In Dreaming Amidst Thorns a baby is left alone in a forest & so it is that a new life & a new story begins. A book opens & we step into its chapters to become a part of them. Hiding in its pages is the sinister & soul-less Swelterdoar, the man who is always waiting in the shadows for the right moment to appear, who seeks to destroy any story but his own &, in so doing, people’s lives & the planet. He represents the essence of all that is wrong with the world today in its search for some kind of happiness through control & economic or personal wealth.
Lost children, far from home & with no names, set out upon a journey to discover who they are &, in so doing, learn how to look & listen, to heal what is wounded & to open their minds to what is really happening around them. They undertake this quest on behalf of humanity. The show seeks to entertain & enchant, however, as well as enlighten its audience & invites folk to leave behind everyday life for a while by stepping into A Land of Somewhere Else.
Kaleidoscope Theatre’s players are inspired by the beauty of simplicity & by music, dance, dramatic gesture & voice. They seek to portray reality & wonder, sadness & joy, storm & silence, foolishness & wisdom, deception & truth, despair & hope & to provide things to ponder upon as the show draws to a close. Kaleidoscope endeavours to tell a faerie story as they were meant to be told, to lead us into that journey through life - through the forest of darkness & light, danger & sanctuary, mystery & enlightenment.
Dreaming Amidst Thorns may conjure up a picture of a pre-Raphaelite painting of Briar Rose asleep, & awaiting her summer prince to awaken her, but it also provokes the image of a threatening thicket of barbed wire imprisoning a dream of love, truth & the 'happy ever after' life we all aspire to.
Dreaming Amidst Thorns has been inspired, most of all, by the ethos & spirit of its venue, the Quaker Meeting House, & by the Festival Fringe itself.
Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?
There is nothing better. Good theatre, dance & music inspire, provoke & teach us all.
How did you become interested in making performance?
As a way of encouraging the creative spirit in people of all ages & from all walks of life. To become immersed in all aspects of play making - script, soundtrack, choreography, costume, dramatic gesture & voice & to share its story with each other & the audience. To encourage deeper thought & understanding.
Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?
We begin with the themes for a new show. Then layer upon layer is added as the story, scenes & characters are all developed in rehearsals. Imagery, allegory & symbolism, as in any good faerie tale, all play a part. A production continues to remain open to new thought & to transformation throughout its life.
Does the show fit with your usual productions?
Yes. We always incorporate dance, drama, mime, music & voice in our shows & write our own scripts. The only exception to this is when we venture into the world of Charles Dickens & even then our plays are different from the usual story adaptations.
What do you hope that the audience will experience?
We hope that an audience will experience an escape from the harsh realities of everyday life for a while, to journey with us into a magical & mysterious world of forest & faerie folk that, nevertheless, runs parallel to our own. To experience a unique style of play production, an uplifting of the spirit & something special to take away with them - to remember & to ponder upon.
What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
To seek & recapture the essence of long ago stories & to awaken a reverence for life in all its myriad forms. To remember that there is beauty in simplicity & that there is an uplifting of the spirit when we hear mesmerising music, or see dance & dramatic gesture, to hear lyrical verse & to be immersed totally in what is unfolding before you on the stage. To ensure that the play taxes intellectually as well as emotionally.
The Company: Kaleidoscope Theatre, founded in 1980 by its artistic directors, is unusual in that
7 members live as a family-style community all year round whilst the rest of the cast come at
weekends to rehearse. No one is paid or drama school trained. Shows are created entirely in-house
and performed by its 20 players, of all ages and from varied walks of life, with little money but
with a passion for their story. Costumes and props are recycled and reinvented.
Kaleidoscope has, nevertheless, performed high quality theatre in many wonderful places over the
years, including the RSC's Swan Theatre, international festivals at home and abroad and,
on 12 occasions, at the Edinburgh Fringe. It has played to full houses and excellent reviews.
Kaleidoscope Theatre comes to the Fringe with a story it believes in and trusts that, in its beautiful
simplicity, the play will hold a powerful message for all those who care deeply about creativity,
compassion, unity, our planet and everything that lives upon it.
The Play: A mysterious baby is left alone in a forest & a new story is born. Her one joy is the now
& then appearance of a nightingale. Then, one day, the bird comes no more & the girl sets out to discover who she is. She encounters lost children wandering through a fragmented faerie tale world
&, together, they venture deep into the wood in search of truth, harmony & home. The sinister &
soul-less Swelterdoar, meanwhile, emerges from the shadows to divide, destroy & deny universal truths. In exploiting & endangering life in all its myriad forms, he becomes an ever-present peril.
Touching upon stolen lives & stories in a fast disappearing natural world this play interweaves mesmerising mime, music, dance, drama & voice to entertain, enlighten & enchant everyone.
|
No comments :
Post a Comment