THE WISHING BRIDGE To 31 March.
Tour.
THE WISHING BRIDGE
by Guy Hutchins.
Moby Duck Theatre Company Tour.
Runs: 1hr 30min One interval.
Review: Rod Dungate 29 November 2007.
Welcome oasis.
MOBY DUCK is one of the UK’s leading theatre company’s for children. Their mixture of direct storytelling, theatre, puppetry and dance all built upon an interwoven platform of British and Asian culture and myth gives them a unique feel. For this show (8 years and upwards), DUCK founder Guy Hutchins takes a very English story (a child living on a 21st Century narrowboat) but stays true to his international principles.
Ten year old Saira lives on a narrowboat in the country with her father. They have to move to the town where she is unhappy. However, atuned to the rhythm of canal life she discovers a bridge that enables her to travel back and forward in time. She meets a young man, Nathan, she learns to handle the horse, Brimble, that tows the boat. Lest all seems sweetness and light, the Victorian Saira and her father fall victim to Victorian capitalism and her beloved horse’s life is threatened. Her efforts to save him take her back to the time James Brindley was engineering the canal.
Guy Hutchins tells the story with an easy-going naturalness, effortlessly adopting the many characters as he animates the puppets – including Brimble, the horse. Jyoti Parwana dances Saira with elegance and charm, integrating expert South Asian dance into the story. All elements are drawn together by a multi-layered score of live and recorded music by Ed Briggs and Chandru. This score is a delight in itself, full of secrets slowly revealed, as, for instance, when you realise the horse’s heavy breathing is created by a ‘wheezing’ piano accordion. The music carries its own rich echoes.
In today’s world of rush, bustle and over-produced television popular culture, the directness of this multi-layered, simple story is a welcome oasis of calm.
Storyteller: Guy Hutchins.
Dancer (Saira): Jyoti Parwana.
Designer: Olly Shaplet.
Music: Ed Briggs, Chandru.
Projections and Animations: Second Home Productions.
Choreographer: Chitraleka Bolar.
2007-11-30 09:55:09