photo by George Baylis
Carnival Of
Objects Theatre Of Puppetry presents
The Sea
Shelley Theatre, Boscombe, Dorset 24/25 June 2017
A “dark and atmospheric coastal tale”, The Sea is a modern re-imagining of
traditional stories and
legends that surround the “Selkies”, or seal folk – “…the spiritual personifications of nature and the hidden aspects of the workings of the sea…” - that originate from The Western Isles. Indeed, director Nicky Baylis spent considerable time researching these legends when she visited the Outer Hebrides in preparation for writing the play. The Sea is immersive; from the very first moments, as the sea mist rolls in over the audience from the rear of the Shelley Theatre’s small raked stage to later, when the first of the beautiful hand-sculpted seal-masks bob around, I was transported to another place. Baylis’ story pits a barbaric, drunken seal hunter against the mystical aspects of the sea itself, while a sub-plot involving a doomed relationship between a human male, (of very traditional male attitudes), and a seal woman intertwines with the unnerving influence of a kind of witchy conjuror-type character, Maggie o’ th’ Moss. In a way, the masks and puppets are the real stars of the show; the epic two-year pre-production period being due in large part to the time it takes to fabricate these often quite large pieces. The impressive “Seal King” mask must have been over three feet tall.
legends that surround the “Selkies”, or seal folk – “…the spiritual personifications of nature and the hidden aspects of the workings of the sea…” - that originate from The Western Isles. Indeed, director Nicky Baylis spent considerable time researching these legends when she visited the Outer Hebrides in preparation for writing the play. The Sea is immersive; from the very first moments, as the sea mist rolls in over the audience from the rear of the Shelley Theatre’s small raked stage to later, when the first of the beautiful hand-sculpted seal-masks bob around, I was transported to another place. Baylis’ story pits a barbaric, drunken seal hunter against the mystical aspects of the sea itself, while a sub-plot involving a doomed relationship between a human male, (of very traditional male attitudes), and a seal woman intertwines with the unnerving influence of a kind of witchy conjuror-type character, Maggie o’ th’ Moss. In a way, the masks and puppets are the real stars of the show; the epic two-year pre-production period being due in large part to the time it takes to fabricate these often quite large pieces. The impressive “Seal King” mask must have been over three feet tall.
The four excellent actors/puppeteers; Emma Manley, Tony
Horitz, Jonny Hoskins and Nicky Baylis, are joined onstage by two musicians; violinist
Stefan Defilet and cellist Nick Squires who perform throughout. Defilet wrote the score for the play and it
is here, along with the imaginative sound design, that the tangible magic of
the play is created. Using a mixture of traditional
folk-influenced elements, extended technique and otherworldly drones, Defilet
and Squires ramp up the mood, tension and anxiety as the play progresses. In the second half, the amplified
pre-recorded sound design which had previously comprised simple effects such as
the sound of waves or seabirds, now employs fabulously unsettling delays and
reverberation on spoken passages, (reminding me of the disconcerting sound effects
in the lurid Mexican 1960s Mr Majicka
films), contrasting hi-fidelity and grainy analogue sections, sputtering white
noise, in particular, during the scene where the Grim Reaper makes an
appearance, helping give the proceedings a genuine sense of menace.
photo by Paul Viner
The puppeteering is elegant and refined throughout;
referencing the bunraku technique, (in
other words, the performers are visible to the audience while operating the
puppets).
There is also a link back to one of the building’s previous uses – the Publicity
Artist; cartoonist Mark Stafford and the photographers, Liam Daniel and George Baylis all studied art in the building.
The venue itself is in a perfect location for this play;
only a few hundred yards away from the cliffs overlooking the sea at Boscombe. The auditorium itself currently has a
suitably “shabby-chic” look about it as all the remaining original features – the
proscenium arch and raked stage for example – have been retained and their aged
patina preserved intact. The modern
theatre bar and courtyard adjacent to the auditorium is a stylish recent addition. The original theatre was built by Percy
Florence Shelley, son of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, inside his private residence, Boscombe Manor. The theatre itself opened in 1870. The building’s subsequent history is
interesting. Shelley and his wife left
no direct descendants, so the manor was sold and became a school around the
turn of the century. After the Second World
War it then became an art college - I studied there from 1988-1990 when it was
known simply as Shelley Park; part of Bournemouth & Poole College of Art
& Design. At that time, the stage area
of the theatre, (complete with the original raked floor), was our canteen and
the auditorium our Main Hall. When the
College stopped using the building to teach, the building sadly quickly fell
rapidly into disrepair. As is too often
the case these days, where financial pressures seem to sometimes take precedent
over historical value, at this point in time, there was some concern for the
future of the derelict theatre. However,
developers refurbished the entire site after it was sold in 2005 and it is no
small achievement of the team behind the Shelley Theatre Trust who have so
elegantly brought Shelley Theatre back to life.
I attended the first of a two-night run and both nights
appear to have been sold out. Nicky
Baylis plans to tour the play around coastal theatre venues in the near
future. It's a wonderful piece of work. I wish her and Carnival Of
Objects the best of luck in that endeavour.
photo by George Baylis
No comments:
Post a Comment