You Forgot the Dramaturgy: Francesca Joy @ Edfringe 2017

IMAGINE IF presents

YOU FORGOT THE MINCE

AT THE PLEASANCE COURTYARD, EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE

FROM 7 – 28 AUGUST 2017

Following a hugely successful 2016 tour to theatres and prisons in the North of England, You Forgot the Mince, presented by Imagine If and written by Francesca Joy, will run at The Pleasance Courtyard during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 7 – 28 August 2017 (excl. 21 August). This will be followed by a London run in September and an Autumn tour of prisons and theatres (details to be announced).

Inspired by real life events and set in Leeds, this gritty piece of new writing tells the story of a modern day abusive relationship: ‘Rosa lives with her grandma Lily. She’s just finished college and she can’t wait to leave Yorkshire and all the people in it … until she meets Niko. They fall head over heels in love, and the future’s looking bright. But their love for each other is tested to the limit; Rosa leaves for London, Niko ends up in prison and Lily won’t stop baking cakes. Everyone’s world is falling apart, but no-one’s talking about it. How are they going to get their lives back on course?’

INTERVIEW WITH FRANCESCA JOY, WRITER/ACTRESS FOR ‘YOU FORGOT THE MINCE’ AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/FOUNDER OF ‘IMAGINE IF’ THEATRE COMPANY

What was the inspiration for this performance?

Growing up in the working-class communities of Castleford, West Yorkshire, which, like so much of our country, suffered so much from the post-Industrial Revolution decline, I was exposed to the difficulties people in my community experienced with abuse and interacting with the UK criminal and care systems.  My aim has always been to represent the voices of people traditionally overlooked in the arts - I founded my company (Imagine If) to work with offenders, ex-offenders, those with mental health issues, addicts and recovering addicts, young adults in the care system and those from disadvantaged backgrounds so that their voices may be heard, so that our audiences can know that the struggle is real but also that there are choices to be made that can improve the lives of the thousands of people in this country who feel side-lined or ignored.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

I think it’s one of the most powerful, it allows people from all walks of life to experience a different perspective or to know that their own feelings are not unique – that there are ways to get support, that they are not alone.  It also provides a safe environment to challenge ingrained beliefs and help people to identify their own behaviour patterns which hopefully empowers the individual to make a difference in their own life and that of others.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I developed these characters whilst working at the West Yorkshire Playhouse as a way of articulating the anger I felt seeing people from less advantaged backgrounds being discriminated against and denied opportunity.  The Arts is enriched and emboldened by diversification – conflict is at the heart of drama and without facilitating a broad range of voices it will always fail to have an impact – both socially and economically.  Coming up against so many walls, I wanted to kick the door down and open up opportunities for those who might have felt that the arts was an unreachable goal or somehow didn’t represent the world they identified with.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

When I was writing the play I spoke to hundreds of people who live in the communities the characters come from as well as interviewing people involved in working with people who identify as abused or abusers.  Imagine If regularly holds drama workshops and facilitates drama-based projects in prisons across Yorkshire so the experiences of offenders and the prison staff was a huge influence.  In addition, I moved into some of the communities mentioned in the play to gain real-life experience of what the people we talk about in the play experience on a day-to-day basis.

Gradually, through working with Mark Catley (Casualty) who came on board as dramaturg, I distilled and concentrated the play into an intense snapshot of these characters lives and the destructive power of their relationships.

Following that stage, we developed the play in two separate research and development stages in 2014/2015 before embarking on a national tour in 2016 where we engaged with audiences who provided valuable insight into the power of the play on their own lives.  Now in 2017, we present the evolution of the whole process – the play is constantly developing and morphing as we understand more about the conditions and experiences of people in similar real-life situations and the collaboration with the actors has increased the density of the fabric of the play which allows it to speak to everyone.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Our mission is to create theatre that is inspiring, entertaining and unashamedly honest for our audiences. Authenticity is ingrained in our work – You Forgot The Mince is an excellent example of the theatre we create.  It is based on the world around us comprising real stories from real people and has a social conscience at its heart.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

We saw in 2016 that it is a play that causes great reflection in the audience – of their own lives and how their relationships are formed, maintained and cared for.  The line between an abusive relationship and one we would consider to be perfectly normal is so fine – when does our need for love or control of our own lives develop into something which is harmful to our loved ones?  The media tend to portray quite a binary version of domestic abuse – man hits woman (or vice versa) – but the play sets out to challenge that assumption and identify other behaviours which constitute abuse and illustrate that there are far more factors at play in a relationship that has become abusive.  We seek not to excuse the behaviour of our characters, but to explore it and help the audience understand that they can chose to take a different path.  One of the charities I spoke to during my research, Behind Closed Doors, identifies emotional, financial and sexual abuses, among many others, in the people they help – we hope that the play will offer the audience an insight into how they can avoid entering the cycle of abuse in the first place or identify the need to change their actions if they are already in one.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

Authenticity is the key to all our productions, but especially for You Forgot The Mince.  In reflecting real people’s lives and treating their stories with sympathy and care we can allow the audience to fall in love with the characters before opening up the drama of their lives in order to hold a mirror up to the audience.  Reality is key, despite its gritty subject matter the play is actually hugely funny and tender and it is a fully theatrical experience, White & Givan (Milk, Traverse Theatre) have provided the Movement Direction and there is a fully composed score by Ed Clarke (Frankenstein, NT) which brings out emotions, themes and thoughts that text alone would not be able to deal with.  It was important to me as a writer and a Producer to have a multi-disciplinary production in order to speak to as many people as possible.

Francesca Joy conceived, researched and wrote You Forgot The Mince supported by dramaturg Mark Catley (BBC). Francesca, who is also Founding Artistic Director of Imagine If, grew up in care from the age of 15, and she has experienced various forms of abuse throughout her life. As a trained actor, writer and producer, Francesca uses her first-hand experience to inform the art which Imagine If creates and she is passionate about working with those underrepresented in the arts. She says: “You Forgot the Mince is a story about what we do to protect those around us and how we fuck them up in the process. It is about real people and the journeys they choose to go on in life. How we love and how we hurt. The characters came to me long before the story did. I was inspired by my own relationships with those close to me, those around me, and the people I passed on the street. I am inspired by people and the ability they have to change their own behaviour. I hope You Forgot the Mince inspires others to change too.”

You Forgot The Mince is performed by Francesca Joy, Ursula Mohan and Prince Plockey. It is directed by Stephen Whitson (UK Associate Director on the West End transfer of the Broadway hit show Hamilton and currently Associate Director of 42^nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). Movement is by award-winning choreographers Errol White and Davina Givan, of White & Givan, and sound by Ed Clarke.

The production features an amalgamation of verbatim text, original text and physical theatre accompanied by an original score. The interactions between the characters poignantly highlight the stark reality of control and coercion, interlaced with humour and normality. 

Imagine If is a Leeds-based theatre company and charity, founded in 2014, which tours new writing to theatres and prisons across the UK. Its productions are based on the world around us comprising real stories from real people, placing those without a voice at the forefront of each Imagine If production. As well as theatre productions, Imagine If runs a range of drama-based workshops across the UK with offenders, ex-offenders, those with mental health issues, recovering addicts, young adults in the care system and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. You Forgot the Mince had an extensive research phase including drama workshops in HMP Leeds and with ex-offenders within the community.

You Forgot the Mince runs from 7 – 28 August (exc. 21 August) at the Pleasance Courtyard.  Tickets, priced £6.50 - £10 (‘2 for 1’ tickets on 7 and 8 August), are available from the Pleasance Box Office: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/you-forgot-mince and Telephone Booking: 0131 556 6550. Imagine If are supporting young adults in care with four free tickets available for every show

Website: www.imagineiftheatre.co.uk

Twitter: @imagine_if_co / Facebook: @imagineiftheatrecompany

Show trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hh8yL6xQdI&t=1s

LISTINGS

Show: You Forgot the Mince

Theatre company: Imagine If

Dates: 7 – 28 August (no performance 21 August)

Times: 1.00pm

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Duration: 60 minutes (no interval)

Suitability: ages 12+.  Performance contains brief depictions of violence

Prices (standard/concession): £7.50/£6.50: Mon 14, Tues 15, Tues 22, Mon 28;  £9.00/£8.00: Weds 9, Thu 10, Weds 16, Thu 17, Weds 23, Thu 24; £10.00/£9.00: Mon 7, Tues 8, Fri 11, Sat 12, Sun 13, Fri 18, Sat 19, Sun 20, Fri 25, Sat 26, Sun 27

(Concessions available - valid for anyone under 18 years old, registered students, registered unemployed, registered disabled, or over 60 years old. ID required).

7 and 8 August: ‘2 for 1’ ticket offer available

Imagine If are supporting young adults in care with four free tickets available for every show

Box Office: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/you-forgot-mince / 0131 556 6550.

PRESS ENQUIRIES:

Alison Duguid, Press & Comms Consultant: Alison@AduguidPR.com  / 07934 375492. 

To book review tickets for this show please email the Pleasance Press Office press@pleasance.co.uk and cc: Alison@AduguidPR.com  

NOTES TO EDITORS

BIOGS FOR CREATIVES/CAST

·      FRANCESCA JOY began writing and touring her own stand-up comedy sets in 2012, which led to a real passion for all styles of writing and she began script writing the following year in 2013, after securing a place on the West Yorkshire Playhouse's writing course. Theatre writing credits include: You Forgot the Mince (UK Tour), Displaced (Carriageworks Theatre), Mairzy Doats (Headingley Literary Festival), Doing Time (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Film writing credits include: Bunny Girls (Black Hat Pictures), Noughts and Crosses (Chocolate Bear UK). Francesca has been professionally acting for television and stage since she graduated from her theatre training in 2012.  Theatre credits include: The Musicians (National Theatre), In or Out (Seven Arts), Rastaroots (Contact Theatre) Dick Whittington (UK Tour), My Mother Said I Never Should (Carriageworks). Screen credits include: Falling (Mojofilm), Emmerdale (ITV), Trapped Magic (Cloud Castle Entertainment), Bunny Girls (Black Hat Pictures), Ex-Men: The Care Home Wars (Alec Birkbeck Films), Lovebite (West End Films).

·      STEPHEN WHITSON trained at The Arts Educational Schools, London. Theatre Directing credits include: The Last Five Years and Putting It Together (The Lyric, Belfast), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Criterion, London), Little Women (Old Rep, Birmingham), Return To The Forbidden Planet (SWG3, Glasgow), Dubailand (Finborough), If Only… (Bread & Roses, London), Circuit Breaker (Timewave Festival), and The Wizard of Oz (St. Ives Theatre). Upcoming work: Benighted (Old Red Lion), 42nd Street (Associate Director - Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) and Hamilton (UK Associate Director - Victoria Palace Theatre).

·      URSULA MOHAN began her acting career at Wimbledon Theatre before winning a scholarship to train at The Webber Douglas. She has just played Flo in a one-woman show called Florence Smith - Now & Then which will tour in 2018 and last year she played Lear as a Queen in a revival of the 2014 critically acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s King Lear (Tristan Bates and Union Theatre.) Other recent work includes: Hecuba in The Women of Troy and Mother in Blood Wedding, (Scoop); Sarah in Horniman’s Choice and Mrs Midget in Outward Bound (Finborough); Mrs Goulding in The Veil (National) Mrs Tottendale in The Drowsy Chaperone (Gatehouse); Mrs Fox in Dads Army (UK Tour); and Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (Hertford). She has appeared in Doctors (BBC).

·      PRINCE PLOCKEY trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. His theatre credits include the European tour of The Life and Death of Martin Luther King for TNT Theatre directed by Paul Stebbings (MBE). For Lazarus Theatre Company he played Giovanni in Tis Pity She’s A Whore, Tamburlaine in Tamburlaine the Great, Coriolanus in Coriolanus, Agamemnon in Troilus & Cressida, directed by Ricky Dukes and Gloucester/King Richard in Richard III directed by Gavin Harrington-Odedra.

ABOUT THE PLEASANCE EDINBURGH

·      Pleasance Edinburgh opened as part of the 1985 Festival Fringe with two theatres facing onto a deserted courtyard-come-car-park at an unfashionable eastern end of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Thirtythree seasons later the Pleasance has become the largest and most highly respected venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with an international profile and a network of alumni that reads like a Who’s Who of contemporary comedy, drama and entertainment.   @ThePleasance #ThePleasance Facebook.com/ThePleasance

The Last Days of Judas Dramaturgy: Alexander Knight @ Edfringe 2017

The new theatre company, Parallax Theatre, will take to the stage in a startling and entertaining production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s, ‘Last Days of Judas Iscariot’ for the entire Fringe. The run is starting on Saturday 5 August 2017. The company is performing at the Pleasance Beyond at 1.30 every day.

The ten strong company was formed at the start of the year for the purpose of performing at the Fringe and with the intention of touring the play after its initial run in Edinburgh. The cast is made up of a number of established and debut performers:

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is new production of the rip-roaring tragi-comedy It tells the story of the imagined trial in Purgatory of Judas Iscariot. It is full on and is also very, very funny.

_{What was the inspiration for this performance?}

_{The play was the inspiration. It is extraordinary. It touches on a lot of the major themes we see today - from fake news to the rise of celebrity lawyers; from high profile trials to questions about the very nature of wrong and right/ guilt and innocence. I believe humour can often get to the heart of things in ways more conventional theatre simply misses. To bring the play to the Fringe I formed Parallax and spent three months raising every penny I could and have borrowed as well to bring it here.}

_{Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?} 

_{Absolutely!  it allows people to explore ideas and their feelings about things in a totally different way. It throws a new light on subjects and challenges your perceptions. It takes you out of yourself.}

_{How did you become interested in making performance?}

 _{I can’t recall a time when I was not interested in performance. But I do remember the exact moment I committed myself to giving my passion a chance: I was sitting staring out of the window - I was meant to be studying law at university - and there, was a group of actors off to rehearsal and I just thought, 'What am I doing here when the life I want is across the road?' So,  I just chucked in the course and have been working to break through in my craft ever since.}

_{Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?}

_{A key approach was to couple humour and tragedy to explore a story that many know - or think they know - in a way that is adventurous and challenging. It's all about making an old story relevant to today so people can explore the themes the play touches on. Hopefully they come away having had a great time but also thinking about the world we live in in a slightly different way.}

_{Does the show fit with your usual productions?}

_{This is Parallax first production but we didn't want just to put on a traditional production. I think the minimal set is very effective and it provides just enough atmosphere without detracting from the wit and pace of the script. The look is very important - it enhances the words so people can get inside the ideas on stage.}

_{What do you hope that the audience will experience?}

_{I hope they have a great time - and are still thinking on the issues long after they have gone home. Ultimately  each member of the audience needs to decide if they think that Judas is guilty as the Bible tells us, or a pawn in another's greater game. I think those ideas are very relevant to today and perhaps that will help people challenge some of the news and issues face are facing at the moment.}

_{What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience}

_{I have put together a very fresh show - one where the cast mixes experience and debut performers. I have tried to keep it real  -everyone has their independence of view on how to interpret their characters - which brings a real immediacy to the performances.  We then brought it all together. I think this combination of independence and interdependence helps keep things very much alive - much as it would be in a real trial.}

The thought-provoking trial presents enraged lawyers - a feisty public defender and a corrupt Egyptian businessman - debating points from the existential to the ridiculous. The courtroom is presided over by the last Confederate general to die in battle and star witnesses include Mother Teresa and Sigmund Freud.

Meanwhile Judas is in his own world of memory and regret.  We all think we know the story, but the play looks at the issue from every direction. And at the end you decide whether Judas was guilty or not. Does he go up, down, or remain in purgatory?

Co-Director Alexander Knight said:

 “The ‘Last Days of Judas Iscariot’ is a seriously funny play with a funnily serious message. It uses laughter and surreal humour to tackle major themes facing the world we live in today – the distortion of truth and fake news is all in there. The play underlines how high profile legal cases can lose sight of victims as both sides jockey for the best sound bites and personal profile.

“But first and foremost the Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a great night out with a tremendous and energetic cast. This is the Parallax Theatre’s first production and we aim to send audiences home after having a serious laugh.”

The play is presented by arrangement with Jozef Wienberger Ltd. 

Alan, We Think You Should Get A Dramaturgy: Mad Like Roar @ Edfringe 2017

Alan, We Think You Should Get A Dog. 
From winning New Diorama Theatre's Emerging Graduate Company Programme in association with Hiive 2016 to the popular Pleasance Courtyard...

What was the inspiration for this performance?              

Over Sunday lunch, nearly a year ago, we sat down as a company and conversation quickly turned to how ‘busy’ we all were, constantly having to write reminders to call home and especially grandparents who we knew were living alone. We became really obsessed with why we were unable to stop for a few minutes and make a connection to them. 

That was when we became aware of the plague of loneliness that seemed to be hitting the UK; both our generation and the elder generation were catching the ‘disease’. We spoke to the charity Silverline about the extent of isolation in the elder generation and its causes – it was closing in on us and what could we do? ‘Alan We Think You Should Get A Dog’ is our response to a nation-wide problem that is constantly trying to sweep its problems under the rug and not deal with it’s own ‘sh*t’.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

Absolutely! We think that it is more important then ever to provoke conversation and to put on stage what we do not always talk about in person, because putting something on stage can somehow highlight how ridiculous reality can be. Theatre is a great space for discussion but should make you DO something. 

Whether that is laugh, cry, stand up and say “I hate this” or leave you thinking about it for days after – it should provoke you. Theatre should let the audience take away whatever they want from it, a sensation, a thought, or in “Alan’s” case, make that phone call to the relative you’ve been meaning to ring and think about how we care for one another.

How did you become interested in making performance?                               

We all met training together at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama on the Acting (Collaborative and Devised Theatre) course, and we really clicked, first as friends and then as theatre makers. We trusted each other completely which meant that we could take risks, open up honest conversations and make really bold work. It was so exciting and that was when it became clear we were interested in making performance together.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Resisting the norm! A style that comes naturally to ‘Alan, We Think You Should Get A Dog’ is it’s grotesque physical moments and devised form. There is a balance of how tough can we make it, how far can we push something into the absurd and then end up back to two people listening and talking to each other. 

Whilst spoken text is a leading element of the production we strive to fine-tune the balance between realistic and absurd by putting the character’s day-to-day lives under the microscope. Our primary strength is devising, we set up improvisations with the actors and from these write the scenes, rewrite and re-improvise until we are happy with the text and structure.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?                                              

This is our first full-length production! Ahhh! However, we have already found our niche and style as a company. We create imaginative and honest work that, much like the world we live in, is constantly evolving and changing. We grapple with tender, vicious and extraordinary stories whilst maintaining a light touch and strong sense of humour. We want our audiences to reach for the tissue box, the soapbox and their memory box. So we shall see what the next show brings! It shall most importantly be bold, brave and playful.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?                                       

   In our preview at Theatre 503, we had an extremely supportive audience who both laughed and cried and we’d like that to continue! We would love the audience to come away thinking about how much time they make for their family and for themselves.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?                                                                                                                    

We spent a lot of time exploring our relationship to the audience, experimenting with clown, direct address, ensemble movement and naturalistic scenes, flipping between these styles to create a bold and fast paced show that would keep the audience engaged and experiencing the story through different forms. 

The most obvious strategy we’ve used is comedy, using a light touch to confront a dark subject. In the rehearsal room we frequently used the question, ‘How do we make it worse?’ so the plot does not go the way an audience may think it is going to, always embracing the element of surprise. 

Damned Dramaturgy: Rod Dixon @ Edfringe 2017

THE DAMNED UNITED

Down the stairs…

Along the corridor…

Round the corner…

Into the dressing room… HIS dressing room. Hateful, hateful place. Spiteful, spiteful place. Dirty, dirty Leeds.

1974. Brian Clough, the enfant terrible of British football, tries to redeem his managerial career and reputation by winning the European Cup with his new team. Leeds United. The team he has openly despised for years, the team he hates and which hates him. Don Revie’s Leeds.

Luke Dickson (Brian Clough) in The Damned United 2017

What was the inspiration for this performance?

David Peace very kindly gifted us the rights to The Damned United, as a supporter of Red Ladder. We had lost our regular Arts Council funding back in 2014 and so we took this opportunity eagerly!

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

Yes. Good theatre provokes conversation - it doesn't necessarily provide answers but it raises important issues and questions, and after the show these discussions are often more important than the piece of theatre. 

How did you become interested in making performance?

Finding the best and most suitable creative team to collaborate on a performance project is what is most satisfying. I approached Anders Lustgarten to adapt the book for the stage because I knew he, as a football fan, would relish the opportunity and he really understood the poetic and dark qualities of the original book.
Why this adaptation now?

It is ten or more years since The Damned United was published and almost as long since the film - Clough's view of the business of running football and how it relates to working class life were prescient and we felt there was plenty in this for us to reflect upon. The book and the play are not just about football - the work really comments upon the pressures upon us to be 'successful' and how much money plays upon our existences.

And what do you think the play can bring that can't be experienced from the book or the film?

The book is a fiction because it tries to climb into Clough's mind and suggests the suffering and nightmares which he endured. We have tried to bring that aspect to the stage in a way which is closer to the book than the film.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Reducing the scale of the show from eleven onstage (the original production in 2016) to three was our main challenge. The brilliant design and use of video by Nina Dunn is a key to this and I feel it is a more intimate and powerful experience than the larger production.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

All Red Ladder productions are about struggle in its different forms - so The Damned United is another in a series of shows about how living in a materialistic, high pressured capitalist society is in fact traumatic How we cope with that trauma is different every time and watching this modern tragedy is akin to watching a Shakespearean tragic figure.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope they see the fascinating relationship between two men, the jealousies, the tension and the love. For football fans the play gives an insight into the loneliness of the manager as well as the hostility and passion of the cauldron that is a football stadium. But really the football is only in the background - what we really see is the testosterone fuelled relationship of two rivals and friends. 

ORIGINALLY CO-PRODUCED WITH THE WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE, THE DAMNED UNITED TAKES YOU INSIDE THE TORTURED MIND OF A GENIUS SLAMMING UP AGAINST HIS LIMITS, AND BRINGS TO LIFE THE BEAUTY AND BRUTALITY OF FOOTBALL, THE WORKING MAN’S BALLET.

BY ANDERS LUSTGARTEN

ADAPTED FROM THE NOVEL BY DAVID PEACE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNITY THEATRE LIVERPOOL

THE PLEASANCE, EDINBURGH

2 AUG 2017 – 28 AUG 2017

A Dramaturgy at Sea: Avi Simmons @ Edfringe 2017

A Heart at Sea is an epic folktale told on miniature scale. Stunning visuals and beautiful live music come together to create a breath-taking spectacle. 

Original songs written and performed by Avi Simmons, and live looped soundscapes, tell the story of a Boy who bottles up his heart and throws it into the sea. 

Pleasance: Below 

11:50am

Aug 2nd-4th (Previews) | 5th- 28th (Excl. 15th)

14th & 22nd (Relaxed) | Running Time: 55mins

Intricate puppets are swept through transforming wooden worlds that are held within a beautifully carved chest. Puppets roam on this unique contraption to recount the story of whales, tiny boats, and beards. In this intimate Edinburgh venue, audiences have the chance to encounter a moving piece of theatre about grief, reconciliation and adventure. Suitable for ages 7+.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

A Heart at Sea was born out of a love for puppetry, song-writing and live music. We wanted to create a show that told a folk style story, using folk music and puppetry to bring it to life. 

The image of someone bottling up their heart and throwing it in to the sea after suffering grief was something we thought was a powerful image for how we as humans try to deal with loss, and the show grew from there. We also wanted the show to fit into unusual and non-traditional performance spaces, hence the miniature scale, and transforming wooden set which expands from one, small hand-carved chest.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

Absolutely! We are die-hard believers in storytelling being an irreplaceable tool for unlocking conversation, emotion and discussion. That is what performances does, it tells stories that move its audience to see something differently, or informs them of intricacies in a topic they would not engage with otherwise. They can chew on that, and if people are chewing on things, they will likely discuss them.

How did you become interested in

making performance?

Both company members studied drama and theatre at The University of Kent. But our interest in performance, and our individual specialisms (puppetry and song-writing) can be traced back to childhood.

Avi sung home grown pop songs to her peers on the steps of the primary school playground, and wrote poems on small pieces of paper which she folded tightly, and carried around in a palm-sized pouch.  Peter fashioned puppets from a young age. His first puppet, namely ‘Graham the tent peg’, is still fondly recalled at family gatherings. 

Once at University Peter started creating more complex puppets and part of his studies was creating Mehitabel the cat, a advanced Bunraku style cat puppet made from a plastic pipe, a bike chain and a leather jacket.

There is something extremely satisfying about building something from scratch and performing with it, and A Heart At Sea has been a labour of love for both artists in that sense. Peter loved making the set and puppets for A Heart At Sea, carving them out of wood and working on mechanisms. Avi had the challenge of crafting songs and lyrics that are beautiful whilst still carrying the audience through the story with clarity.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

The transforming wooden chest was the starting point for the piece. We needed to decide how many of the scenes in our story we would be able to fit into one chest, and therefore the storytelling and song-writing was informed by these decisions. The show is the result of carefully considered interweaving of live looping, poetic narrative told through song with stunning visuals, and puppetry.

A Heart At Sea Trailer from Half a String on Vimeo.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

A Heart At Sea is the first of Half A String's productions. The company vision is to create  powerful stories resonating through physical objects and live music, and present unique productions of visually stunning and heartfelt theatre. The show certainly does

this!

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

The show has been called a ‘cathartic’ experience, and we think there is something in that. It touches tenderly but vividly on a common experience we have as humans – to shut ourselves away when we get hurt. We often attempt to selectively numb emotional pain in the confusion of grief. 

Our hope for the show is that it will give people a sense of connection with themselves again, if they have experienced that, as well as hope. It is a show recommended for 7+, and we decided not to dull down the tragedy that happens n the show, so that it opens an opportunity for a theatre piece to present children with language to discuss loss.

And of course we hope that families will go away having experienced something magical together!

About the Company

Half a String was born through the collaboration of visual artist Peter Morton and musicianAvi Simmons in the creation of their first show A Heart at Sea. Run by artistic director Peter Morton the company grew out of a love for storytelling, live music and puppetry. 

A Heart at Sea was launched in April 2016 in a secret garden, in the pilgrim’s city of Canterbury, and since then has been astonishing audiences across the country in a variety of intimate venues from black box studios to a 13th Century Franciscan Chapel. 

The company are producing a studio recording of the music from A Heart At Sea that premieres at the Fringe, which will be made available to Press and Edinburgh audiences.